THE BRIEF:

This garden more than most was a bit of an adventure. Travelling all the way to Swansea in Wales meant that everything had to be sourced locally and located in the first place. The building sand used in this part of the world is very different from what we are used to. It seems to dredged up from the beach and dumped in the builders merchants! However, once we got used to it, it was fine.

First job was to clear the old neglected lawn and remove all the old stone path and concrete. Then build the blockwork to give us the funky curved patios and beds. All exposed walls were rendered and given a mist coat until the client paints her pink butterflies onto them! Next the patio areas had to be filled in using several tonnes of hardcore and whacked in preparation for the stone. The lawn was relaid with new turf and 10 tonnes of fresh topsoil was barrowed in to give it a head start.

Indian Sandstone was used in 2 different tones. 'Mountain Mist' and 'Sunset' which is really quite a nice contrast and will be continued with the planting. Lots of cutting required to get the sweeping arcs of the offset height patios and a nice strong dark pointing mix to contrast with the colour of the stone. All in all a highly individual garden and very rewarding to build