Before and after of the front garden transformation

"Huge thank you and a glowing recommendation for Nick Gough who just finished turning my horrible front garden into a work of art! - if you need a garden transformation, he's your man" Sam and Michael, W13

Never have I had so much instant reaction on Facebook than when I posted pictures of this garden design a few weeks ago. Partly I think it was because so many people in West London have front gardens of a similar size, but also this garden had to incorporate a large storage unit.

As you can see in the picture above, the large green storage unit was dominating the space, together with the rubbish and recycling bins. My first objective was to integrate the storage unit and conceal the bins in the best way possible within the small space.

The key to this design came from the existing front door. Painted an attractive dark grey, I took this colour as my main accent and chose grey planters and rope paving edges.

As you can see in the photo above, the grey works really well and is a great foil for the autumn planting of heathers, pansies and blue/grey ornamental grasses, placed each side of the bay window.

The client was very keen for there to be colour and scent as you walked up the path. Firstly, I removed the 70s iron panels from the side wall and fitted grey stone planters planted with Lavender to create a Lavender hedge. To give a lovely fragrance by the front door, I planted an evergreen Jasmine Trachelospermum whose heady scent and dainty white flowers weave their magic for 8 to 10 months of the year.

The photo above, looking through the Lavender, demonstrates a number of design ‘tricks’. Firstly, the large storage unit now looks far less intrusive painted silver and with three silver metal planters along its

length.

All three planters, plus the central planter have standard bay trees, which help to give the space a sense of height and theatre. I also removed the 70s iron panel from the front wall and planted an evergreen Portuguese Laurel hedge along its length to create a sense of privacy.

Finally, to lighten up the space and give a real ‘clean’ look, I laid Cotswold Buff gravel 20mm chippings on top of a weed suppressing membrane. This gravel settles really well with little movement and keeps its attractive colour.

Do you have a difficult front garden?

Do you want to be able to transform it from this...

...into this?

In just three days? If so, please get in touch!