Flowering climbers: choose types that harmonize with the style – those with dainty flowers for modern porches, Lonicera (Honeysuckle) for older properties.
• Leafy climbers: avoid creating a dark entrance
• packed with old, dusty climbers. For a summer-only display, plant the herbaceous Humulus lupulus ‘Aureus’ (Yellow-leaved Hop).
• Hanging baskets: if space allows, suspend a pair of baskets where they cannot be knocked.
• Tubs and pots: group a few to one side of an entrance, at a variety of different heights.
Open-fronted porches allow light to enter the house, while protecting from rain.
Pots packed with summer-flowering plants are ideal for decorating porches.
Enclosed porches become lobbies, where many indoor plants can be grown.
Porch with seats
HOW TO MAKE A RUSTIC PORCH
Some porches are easily made and fixed into position. Construct an informal porch from four chestnut rustic poles, each about 8 ft (2.4 m) long, and two poles (for the top), each 5 ft (1.5 m) long. Add strengthening cross-poles lower down and at the sides. Pieces of expanded trellis are needed for the sides and top. The supporting poles are concreted into the ground to a depth of 18 in (45 cm).
PATHS AND STEPS
Much depends upon type and size, but the average traditional red-brick path will probably take 3–5 days to design and create – a day for planning and marking out, and the rest of the time for removing the topsoil and building. A wooden walkway or a path made from gravel or tree bark can usually be put down in the space of a long weekend, but a flight of brick and stone steps might take a week or more, depending on the structure of the subsoil.
Will these involve much work?
DESIGNING AND PLANNING PATHS
What do you want from your path? Do you want it to be the shortest route between two points – such as the swiftest route from the kitchen to the compost heap – or do you want it to be a slow, meandering route that takes in all the best bits of the garden? Do you want the path to be plain and functional – just a concrete strip – or do you want it to be decorative, with lots of color and different materials?
This path, complete with steps, raised walls and other features has been deliberately designed to make a grand statement.
PATH OPTIONS
Following the edge of a flower border
Providing a walk around the garden
Old pieces of stone suit a country garden
A traditional herringbone brick path
Cobblestone paths are easy to lay
Leading to a particular feature
Curved paths are good for informal areas
Crazy (cleft stone) paving is suitable for a relaxed garden
Gravel and lavender are a good mix
A simple crushed stone path is just right for this scented garden, and the edges are softened by the spread of the plants.
PATH CONSTRUCTION
Gravel A gravel path is a joy – it looks good and is relatively easy to install. Remove the turf and topsoil to a depth of 8 in (20 cm), and then put down a 4 in (10 cm) thick layer of compacted stone and gravel followed by a 4 in (10 cm) layer of pea gravel.
Path construction – brick A red-brick path is a good traditional option. Remove the turf and topsoil down to a depth of 8 in (20 cm), and then put down 3 ½ in (8 cm) of compacted gravel, ⅞ in (20 mm) of compacted coarse sand and ¼ in (5 mm) of soft sand, followed by the bricks.
STEPS IN THE GARDEN
These attractive formal steps have been created with stone slabs forming the treads and bricks forming the risers.
Informal steps made from reclaimed railroad ties are excellent for a country garden using natural materials.
These brick and stone steps are adjoined by buttress hand supports, complete with lights for illuminating the steps after dark.
DESIGNING AND PLANNING STEPS
A functional feature
