Our very own Urban Eden......!

Well, we bought a house 3 years ago which needed an awful lot of work doing, having finished the house the cherry on the top was to start on the garden, we were determined to have a lovely place to relax as the whole reason we moved was so that we had a garden rather than a yard and we did not fall foul to the 'A mechanics car is always broken' ethos!!!
It took us a while as we had to do it in-between landscaping jobs but here it is from start to finish!!!

Before!

Before!

Let the work begin! clearing all the over grown trees

Next in line while we still had back access was to strip the turf & fill a skip

Next up was the new fence, strip the render from the wall & build a shed....Not much to do then!!!

Cedar clad shed finished, including a log store and small veranda...Now to start marking out and putting down the sub base....Still a long way to go!!

All done...Just need to wait for the plants to establish & keep on top of it!!

The garden is north facing but still gets plenty of sun as behind the house is not built up, we do still have to keep in mind that the planting close to the house gets very little sun

Courtyard gadren.......

We have been as busy as ever and unfortunately that tends to mean we don't get much chance to keep you updated on what we are up to!!
Here are some images of a project we finished recently, it was a court yard garden which our customers wanted to have updated, they had wooden decking down which had gone green & become very slippery & started to rot due to being in the shade, the customers did still like the idea of decking though, so we opted for a composite decking system which would eliminate all of these problems and is far easier to maintain as you don't need to treat it each year. Alongside that we replaced the old fence using cedar panels which again cut down on maintenance as cedar does not need to be treated, we also replaced the tiles with porcelain paving.

BEFORE

After, using the narrow part of the yard for storage solutions

BEFORE

AFTER

A tidy up to sell a house.....

Well its been a long time since we have posted anything on here, we have had a really busy summer again, it has been our best ever which is great.

Here are a couple of pics of a garden we did last year, the clients wanted it smartening up as they were getting ready to put the house on the market.

The Hazel screens did a much nicer job of sectioning off the yard area & hiding the oil tank from the house, they also added a lovely natural texture to the area, the Indian sandstone worked really well with the stone built cottage too

Front Garden re-vamp

We have had a really busy summer with the Urban Eden Landscaping side of things, and the weather has really helped us get lots of work done without being rained off every other day!
Here are a couple of photographs of a recently finished front garden which was in need of a make over.
The customers were so happy with the results, and now don't find it such a big task to keep on top of.
Pop along to our landscaping website to find out more about the services we offer *HERE*

We just need to find the time to start our own garden now!!

Helen

Elderflower cordial......

I love this time of year, everything is growing practically as you watch it & the hedgerows are looking lovely, lush & full of life. It is the perfect time to go out & pick some Elderflowers  & make fizz or cordial (not from the side of busy roads as this affects the taste) there is a River cottage recipe for fizz in an older blog post, but here is one for everyone, try it with some little flowers frozen into ice cubes for a pretty summer party drink.

This recipe for Elder flower cordial is from Sarah Raven’s  Garden Cookbook (Bloomsbury).

This recipe makes two 750ml bottles.

1.35g granulated sugar

Flowers from 15-20 elderflower heads

2 oranges, thinly sliced

2 lemons, thinly sliced

2 limes, thinly sliced

30g tartaric (or citric) acid

Put 1.15 litres of water and the sugar in a large saucepan, and dissolve the sugar completely before bringing to the boil. Add the flowers and return the water to the boil.  Remove from the heat immediately.

Thinly slice the fruit into a large bowl or jug. Add the tartaric acid to the fruit and pour over the hot syrup and flowers. Stir well and cover loosely. Leave for 24 hours.  Strain into warm sterillised bottles and seal.

Dog proof garden!

This is a job Urban Eden Landscaping finished a couple of weeks ago, the main reason the customers wanted the design & work carrying out was to dog proof the garden, they have a dog who likes to dig! They wanted a contemporary style with a mixture of paving & decking, the planting scheme was to be low maintenance, and when established will fill the raised planters.

Before......

After........

Cottage garden

I just LOVE the feel of this garden (from Homes & Garden magazine), alliums & box hedge always look lovely together & I love the height which is added & the lovely vintage touches too, it has made me want to get our garden underway more than ever, only trouble is in the spring & summer we are too busy doing customers gardens to start on our own!! (No complaints about being busy though)!
Until we get it done I will just create a scrap book of lovely ideas & dream!!
xx