Landscape Gardens in Mobberley, Cheshire, By David Keegan Garden Design

Below is a few updated pictures from a project i completed in Mobberley in 2012. This is an ongoing Landscape design project which i expect to take at least 5 years to reach its full potential.

Front Gardens

Original water-pump dating to the 1700's

Summer colour

Rose garden with seating area

Planting beds inset into courtyard area

Rear grounds

Hand made Oak and hazel hurdle tree seat.

Bespoke metal path arch with sun strip slot to top.

David Keegan designs for an oak gate to compliment an existing arch

The arch seen in this picture was relocated from a different part of the garden and a new path of York stone crazy paving laid here, and across the drive beyond, to link the new orchard garden and wild flower meadow.

You can view further pictures of this and many of my other design work on my website

David Keegan Garden Design

I sincerely hope you enjoy the pictures and please feel free to comment or ask questions.

All pictures are the copyrighted property of David Keegan © 2014

Do not copy, publish, or use in any way, without the prior consent of the owner, David Keegan.

Picture size and quality is reduced for these postings in order to protect the integrity of the expressed and legal copyright © 2014

Garden Design Project in Leyland, Lancashire, By David Keegan Garden Design

Garden Design in Leyland Lancashire

This was a very exciting project as it required a complete re-design to the front and rear gardens. Whilst the interior of the client’s house was fully modernised the garden was very much stuck in a 1980's time-warp. Both the front and rear gardens were full of the ubiquitous conifers one seems to find everywhere and which i personally loath. So a word of advice to those that might please do not waste time and money planting Leyland type conifers as they are ugly and will only become visually uglier with time. In their mature state they will take up far too much space in any garden and will come to resemble a green concrete wall.

 

 The clients wanted a garden that would reflect and be in keeping with the contemporary 

Interior of the house. At the time of my fist visit the garage was located to the rear of the property and they also parked their cars to the rear of the house. This meant the front entrance was rarely used and the large front garden again rarely used. The front lawn also dropped off from the house to boundary to a depth of at least 1 meter and was in a very poor state.  Due to the peculiar location of the front entrance the existing path to door was located to the side wall of the house. This did nothing to make either prominence of the entrance or a feeling of welcome. Equally the owners had inherited what i can only describe as the largest area of impressed concrete i have come across on any project. 

Again i am baffled as to the reason that anyone would choose this material for a drive when natural stone is so readily available. Given the sheer square meters of it in this project it was not economically viable to remove all but it is now greatly reduced and is blended into the new driveway and side garden utility area. The drop to the front garden came in very handy for recycling site waste and helped to form a new level area for a hex drain gravel drive. This also allowed me to re-position the path to the front door and by use of pattern and increased footprint to put the entrance into context making it a more appealing aspect. 

This was further reinforced with the addition of a newly formed stone clan curved step to the front door which based on the curve of the existing overhead brick canopy. Combined these details now create a more balanced and harmonious approach to the house whilst making good use of the garden as a good sized driveway. Moving the parking to the front also allowed me to suggest we turn the rear garage into a new garden room. This area to the side of the house is now gated to the front and screened to the rear paving an excellent space for a garden shed and wheelie bins thus making use of valuable additional garden space. To my mins far too often these side area of house are overlooked and therefore a wasted resource.

 

Equally the large conifers to the rear boundary were removed along with the impressed concrete driveway a shed and a large Wendy house. The pictures below will tell the rest of the story.

An updated post on the project can be found by clicking this link.

The Finished Gardens 
Front 

New brick boundary wall, automated wooden gates, and rebuilt piers

New Hex drain drive

reconfigured entrance step and path

Path as viewed from house to drive

Screen to side with inset gate

Back Gardens

concealed return arch

Decorative  IOTA granite  planter 

re-designed rear garden

Garage converted to new garden room  

design details; contrasting natural materials

                                                                                                         

David Keegan Garden Design

I sincerely hope you enjoy the pictures and please feel free to comment or ask questions.

All pictures are the copyrighted property of David Keegan © 2014

Do not copy, publish, or use in any way, without the prior consent of the owner, David Keegan.

Picture size and quality is reduced for these postings in order to protect the integrity of the expressed and legal copyright © 2014

Garden Design Project Tockholes, Darwen, Lancashire, By David Keegan Garden Design

Dam Cottage is probably one off the most challenging design prospects i have faced since designing the gardens for my multi-award winning project Thornlea Farm some years ago. Set in a scheduled vale with the gardens neglected for many years prior to the new owners taking it on, it is effectively a series of slopes of varying degrees. So, a big and daunting challenge, but a magical opportunity none the less. 

Indeed on the day of my first visit this area of the West Pennine Moors  lay shrouded in a misty blanket. Driving by the old church, graveyard and past ancient stone cottages, in its eerie but charming village of Tockholes, i couldn't help but feel it somehow reminded me of a fairyland, or perhaps the set from a Harry Potter movie. Set in a small hamlet dating back to the 1600's it formed part of a community of weavers, with the cottage getting its name from the river which still runs through the grounds and originally had a water wheel to the side of the house.  Given the difficulties of the site and the complex nature of the build that will be required this project will be installed over the next number of years. My designs for the gardens will require large scale land reformation to the front aspect to make it more accessible and user friendly but will also involve the restoration of an ancient road entrance and long gone steps leading down to the cottage, along with this will be a  new orchard and  terraces strategically placed to take advantage of the stunning views afforded in the upper areas of the plot. 

Landscape Plan

Planting Plan

3D images of garden design plans

Elevations

Landscape Design details

David Keegan Garden Design

I sincerely hope you enjoy the pictures and please feel free to comment or ask questions.

All pictures are the copyrighted property of David Keegan © 2014

Do not copy, publish, or use in any way, without the prior consent of the owner, David Keegan.

Picture size and quality is reduced for these postings in order to protect the integrity of the expressed and legal copyright © 2014

Contemporary Garden Design Project, Wilmslow Cheshire, By David Keegan Garden Design

A recently completed set of designs for a very interesting project in Wilmslow in Cheshire. The clients wanted a very contemporary set of designs for both the front and rear gardens to better frame, and compliment, their contemporary home. The plans  also had to include a contemporary water feature, creating a focal point near the main entrance to the house. This turned out to be quite a challenge and it took me sometime to find the inspiration needed to design an effective and sculptural piece to fit the brief. After many weeks of frustration i finally came up with a design that i felt would be innovative and in keeping with the design aesthetic of the landscape designs for the area as a whole. However, given that it is still to be manufactured i am not going to include plans at the moment, but will update this post in the future with pictures of the water feature insitu. The designs for the drive are also, in my opinion, a new innovation combining hard landscaping  materials using innovative and combined  techniques to create a contemporary and abstract pattern which lifts the drive, and as a consequence the house, beyond the ordinary and mundane. All in all a very challenging and exciting project which i am looking forward to seeing installed over the coming months. In the meantime here are a few before pictures and a copy of the garden design plans.

Torkington Road, Wilmslow garden design project before pictures

Garden design landscape plan

David Keegan Garden Design

I sincerely hope you enjoy the pictures and please feel free to comment or ask questions.

All pictures are the copyrighted property of David Keegan © 2014

Do not copy, publish, or use in any way, without the prior consent of the owner, David Keegan.

Picture size and quality is reduced for these postings in order to protect the integrity of the expressed and legal copyright © 2014