Blog: The second big reveal in my garden revamp!
I’ve always wanted a garden building but even a summerhouse for small gardens seemed beyond my patch – nowhere even the tiniest on the market would fit. I spent hours looking online and trying to find where I could squeeze one in without success.
As is often the way, a pair of fresh eyes (and a non-gardener) solved the problem. My other half Gary glanced over at the main seating area and said: “Fill in the pond and put it there.” This was heresy to me. I couldn’t get rid of the pond. However, after a good thinking session, ideas began to take shape.
The pond was always a problem, cast out of solid concrete by the house’s former owner. Its sides were sheer, so anything that fell in couldn’t get out and it was far too shallow to grow decent plants or develop a good wildlife ecosystem. Read more on my old pond and how to create a wildlife pond.
A summerhouse for small gardens – a plan forms
With my increasing health problems, it was becoming more challenging to clean it out. I defy anyone with knee, hip and back problems to kneel on gravel and fish out filth! Rght under the hedge, it got clogged with leaves and you couldn’t get behind it to cut it.
At this point, I asked Garry McCabe of Gaia Gardeners for his advice. He has the ability to take even my far-fetched ideas and run with them! The plan evolved:
- Empty and break up the old concrete pond and fill it in with free-draining rubble and gravel.
- Create a solid plinth out of recycled flagstones.
- Place a 6′ x 4′ summerhouse (I bought a Forest Garden Oakley Apex Roof model in a sale) on it.
- Create a new raised pond out of recycled materials along the back wall of the seating area (more on that here).
- We placed more reclaimed flagstones around the seating area.
- For a final touch, Garry added 2 tonnes of gravel around the area and the drive.
Progress on the summerhouse slows
Of course, the incessant rain followed by the extreme cold has slowed my progress on the summerhouse. Although it has a 15-year anti-rot guarantee, I’m protecting it with Protek stain. Never one for the natural look, it is being coloured black on the outside. This is to make it visually ‘disappear’ and not dominate the garden. Black is also a wonderful colour to display plants against and absorbs heat during the day, releasing it slowly at night.
The inside, however, is a different matter. The side and front walls and ceiling are Lavender (a vibrant purple, nothing wishy-washy), while the back wall and inside doors are Saffron (intense dark orange). I love the bright colour clashes of Mexican buildings and that’s where this unholy combo came from.
It looks like it will be spring before the floor is done, lined with plywood, sealed and with some sort of waterproof flooring on top. If you’re wondering why there’s just one white window, the plastic film is still attached on both sides!
