Spring is always a busy time for Eden Restored. With new life sprouting and hatching in gardens up and down the country, people are beginning to pay more attention to their gardens and dare to dream of a British summertime spent outside. The cleaning of barbecues and the weeding of patios takes precedent and we’re in the office less and less, out designing with clients and constructing the perfect gardens throughout spring.
This year is no different and we’re really excited to be working on a number of new projects throughout London and the South East.Our phone has been ringing off the hook for front garden design, something we love rising to the challenge of and welcome as a spring business. Just like when we take on small gardens, we’re always faced with a different challenge with front gardens.
Front Garden Design
The general trend is moving away from your asphalt driveway and a single, solitary bush. People are beginning to welcome adventure into their front gardens, clients are more experimental and we can utilise naturalistic planting selections to increase the curb appeal of a property. We’re working through very careful planting selections which will continue to look beautiful all year round and make the most of existing shapes. We’ve completed two projects in the past fortnight which both avoided the need for hard landscaping.
An upcoming project that we’re particularly excited about is a front garden design on a sloping site. The area is suffering from rapid drainage and looks a very tired piece, so we’re redeveloping the whole garden to bring it back to life. We’re going to pull up the entire patchy lawn and build four plateaued levels with huge boulders. Building these planting levels allows us to be more adventurous in our floral choices, creating a beautiful naturalistic front garden that will become a real feature to the street.
Classic English Gardens
We’ve also recently been on an outing to the Lake District, which is always a fantastic inspiration. As one of the favourite haunts of our lead designer, you’d do well to find Sam still in bed when the sun rises. He’s always out roaming the hills with his sketchpad and his camera, on the lookout for inspiration and possible design ideas stemming from the wild majesty of the Lakes. Sam has returned to us with a renewed enthusiasm for spring flowering trees, such as the prunus varieties and amelanchier and is looking forward to including them in the right design projects.
The rugged elegance of the Lake District is sometimes deemed a bridge too far for garden designers,but if you’re lucky enough to have great outdoor views toward further landscapes; clever design and planting choices can help accentuate and bring those views into the garden space. You don’t need Windermere across to road to enjoy your own slice of Keswick or Coniston.
Coolings Garden Centre
Now for a piece of news that everybody is thrilled to announce. Eden Restored has been selected as one of the preferred garden design agencies of Coolings Garden Centre. If you’ve never been to Coolings before, it’s one of the largest and most prestigious garden centres in the South East, with a history stretching back to 1913. Nowadays it’s a one-stop-shop for everything outdoors in Kent, so make sure you find a Saturday morning to get down and lose yourself in the aisles. Who knows, we might even be there to say hello!