wishes
“After the renovation, the garden is not what it should be,” Barbara tells Tom. They prefer a maintenance-friendly garden with many plants and a tree that provides cooling during the hot summer months. They also like to have a nice place in their garden where they can hang out with friends and family.
the plan
The team works to make wishes come true, including a porch, rooftop trees for natural shade, green areas with plants, and of course, comfortable seating areas.
Porch
Martijn and Barbara were clearly craving a comfortable sit-down dining area. So a gazebo was created from light gray ceramic tiles that were baked at a high temperature in a kiln. This makes the tiles very strong and easy to maintain.
bonfire (Carpinus betulius)
Tom planted a hornbeam roof tree (Carpinus betulius) at each corner of the porch. These are small trees that are very suitable for a smaller garden, but still provide ample shade in the summer. Here they can cool off during the warmer days, as it can get very hot in the summer.
Hint:
Are you growing a tree or shrub with a large root ball? Then make sure the opening is wide enough. About twenty percent larger than the root ball itself. This way the tree will fit easily and have room to root well.
Hedges ready
Even in winter, Barbara and Martine have a lush garden with their Cardinal (Euonymus) cap ready to use. The advantage of this compact hedge is that it sprouts less compared to Hedera (ivy). You can prune cardinal’s cap branches twice a year to keep the hedge looking neat.
walkway
The intention is that the residents can get their bikes out of the shed without much effort, which is why a walking path has been created. The track consists, among other things, of locking bars, so that the stones stay well in place. Then Tom put the stones in a stretcher bond.
did you know
The sand bed does not always have to be tightened with a spirit level, you can also do this with a plank and anchor straps.
Limburg white gravel
Life hack! To prevent the gravel from bouncing around in all directions when you walk over it, you can use honeycomb mats. This way the pebbles stay in the little honeycomb pockets. Tom put white Limburg gravel, also known as farmers’ gravel, in the garden.
Mexican orange blossom
Mexican orange blossom (Choisya ternata) is a shrub that fits well in a small urban garden. The plant originally comes from Mexico and you can also smell it through the exotic aroma that pervades its beautiful white flowers.
Rhododendron
Rhododendron (Roseum elegans) features dark green, leathery leaves and beautiful white, blue, violet, pink, orange or yellow flowers in the months of April through July. The best way to care for the shrub is acidic soil. So it’s best to choose an acidic potting soil or throw loose leaves under the bush as supplemental food.
Lying mountain tea (Gualtheria procumbens)
A low plant that does not exceed 15 cm is suitable for all large trees and shrubs. Mountain tea is therefore a good ground cover that gets pretty blooms in the summer and pretty colors with red berries in the fall.
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