Month: March 2016

Entrance To Business Premises, Dublin

I have been asked to devise a scheme for the entrance to this premises in North Dublin. Here are a couple of before and after photos. The brief was to come up with something sharp and attractive but which would require minimal maintenance. The paving is Shelbourne Black Granite with a Newgrange Silver Granite Cobble… Read more »

The Garden With No Plants. Heresy?

We, quite naturally, associate gardens with plants. The Oxford English dictionary defines a garden as “a piece of ground adjoining a house, used for growing flowers, fruit, or vegetables” or the plural gardens as “ornamental grounds laid out for public enjoyment and recreation”. It is difficult to break the association between the concept of the… Read more »

Bike Storage ,Dublin

Here is a photo of a neat little bike locking shelter we did recently. Note the heavy steel locking bollard which is concreted below ground to a depth of 900 mm. This solved a problem for the homeowner who previously, for security, had to haul the bicycle through the terraced house at least twice a… Read more »

Back Garden Co. Kildare

I am starting a family garden in Co. Kildare for a couple with a two year old son. The principal features will be a large paved sitting/ entertainment space, a custom storage shed, generous lawn area, screening to the unsightly oil tank, herbaceous planting bed, shade planting bed, fruit bed and herb bed. A large… Read more »

Front Porch Co. Laois March 18th

Here are a few photos of the front porch project I am doing in Co. Laois. The shiplap cladding has been started so we can begin to get a sense of the character of the finished structure. The planned colour is Black Ash. The next step is to get the profiled metal roof cladding on,… Read more »

Syrian Garden March 19th

We’ve had a nice dry week so we could move a bit of soil down in the Hazel on Saturday. We got all the excavation done for the central paved area. We also put down a layer of opaque polythene on what will be the perimeter planting beds. The polythene will keep unwanted grass and… Read more »

Green For ’16

What do you know about the Greening Grey Britain initiative? Well I knew nothing either till a few days ago when I happened across it on the Chelsea Flower Show website. There I was at home messing about online when I decided to check out Chelsea to see what design delights it has in store… Read more »

If Any Man Can Manchan Can

There are three major Drivetime radio shows on between 4.30 and 7.00 pm each weekday. If you are interested in current affairs you probably listen to Mary Wilson on Radio 1 or Matt Cooper on Today FM. If however, like me, you are more interested in listening to two and a half hours of a… Read more »

Front Porch Co. Laois

The brief is to create an entrance porch to provide a weather buffer and more space for boots, coats, dogs etc. The current front door faces south and gets battered with rain and wind which inevitably, in the midlands, comes from a southerly direction. There will be six large windows to maintain light and a… Read more »