Commanding presence - creating a grand entrance.

All homes need a grand entrance, something with street presence that will make you stand out from the neighbours.

When we moved into 'Bird Cottage' the street appeal was ok. In fact it was the street appeal that immediately drew us to the property with it's cute, country-cottage look. But once you start dissect it , it really wasn't very special. The previous owners had been very clever and had added the white-painted timber work to the front of the property which certainly created visual interest to what would otherwise have been a pretty boring street-frontage. But there was no front path, the picket-fence was pretty ratty-looking and the front gate was off to the side; nothing that created an entrance to lead you to the front door.

In the last few months we have been concentrating on the side garden after removing the large Liquidambar tree and installing a water tank. This area has come along nicely and has created a lovely, sunny courtyard for us. Below you can see the side area at the time of purchase and how it looked a few weeks ago with the new pick fence and gate installed.

                                                                       

What I wanted was to create a central path leading to the front door. You can see in the first picture the small deck landing and stairs leading up to the front door. These are 2m wide and create a nice solid entrance. I decided to make the path as wide as the steps and to recreate the side gate and pickets to form the main street entrance. I didn't want a fence along the front, preferring instead a hedge.

First we had to clear an area for the path which meant removing some soil and bringing in some road base to create a nice solid foundation for the path. The idea is to use some old pavers I found behind the shed to edge the path and fill between with pink crushed granite, sometimes called deco-granite.

Looking from the front door we now have the front gate installed and the base for the new path in place. We brought in road base which is crushed stone and old concrete. This is much cheaper than the pink crushed granite and when compacted with a mechanical compactor created a really strong base for the path and the pavers which will be laid with cement down each side. That way you can just top-up between the paver edging with the granite to about 50mm thick saving lots of $$$$.

Next job was removing the green fence to make way for the hedge. Like any garden the key to success is good preparation. You might be able to see in the picture above that the grass is dead along the fence line! I used ® Roundup to kill off the grass which made it much easier to remove. I was literally able to scrape away the grass from the surface of the soil.  ® Roundup is non-residual which means it acts quickly to kill the grass or weeds but it's chemical components break down very quickly and don't build up in the soil, which is great because we want to plant our hedge in this soil.

After scraping off the dead grass it's time to turn over the soil using a spade and fork. Our soil is quite heavy with lots of clay so this meant breaking up big sods by hand and removing all the small stones and all the dead grass roots. After crumbling and breaking up the soil I added a couple of bags of garden compost and some well rotted cow manure to build up the texture of the soil. I didn't want the soil to just turn into a hard clay mass again with the next rain shower.

With the soil improved and garden beds ready it's time to get planting. For my hedge I have chosen Viburnum odoratissimum which is evergreen and has a large, glossy green leaf and is known as a 'fast-grower' which is good considering the plants are only about 15cm tall. Once they were planted they were cut back to half their size to encourage bushiness. The last thing you want is an open hedge so it's really important to continue to pinch out the new growth from the beginning to ensure you have a nice thick hedge. I always say you have to be cruel to be kind with hedges! In a few years time I'm hoping my hedge will be 2m high and nice and thick like this one below! It will give the house and garden privacy but as the house is slightly elevated you will still see it from the street, glimpsed over this living green-wall.

So with the hedge planted I turned my attention to the side fence and gate. I had a lovely rose bush that we had inherited with the house; a beautiful yellow-orange bloom tinged with red and a gorgeous scent. This rose was planted up against the front of the house below the living room windows and needed to be removed as the garden was right up against the brick foundations of the cottage and could have caused problems with moisture. You never want soil or a garden heaped up against your home as this could cause expensive repairs down the track. Always keep gardens separated from the house walls and ensure you have adequate under-floor ventilation for houses raised off the ground.

I decided that the new side fence would become the new rose garden. I built two small gardens edged with treated pine sleepers painted to tie in with the rest of the garden and fencing. I then prepared the soil in the same way as I did for the hedge garden. Transplanting roses can be done at any time of year but it's important not to let the roots to dry out. Ideally the best time for moving roses is when the main growing season is finished and this is usually in the colder months (so I took a bit of a chance doing this in March!) But it seems to be doing ok and new growth is slowly starting to appear.

The transplanted rose is to the right of the gate. When transplanting roses it's really important to remove a lot of the above-ground growth. The rule is to have about as much above ground as there is below with the root system; and always to to keep as much soil intact around the root system when moving. The rose to the far right is called 'The Highlands Rose' so I had to have that since we live in the Southern Highlands of NSW; a lovely dark pink rose with a light 'tea-rose' scent. The rose to the far left is called 'Queen Elizabeth' which has lovely clear pink, double or full blooms. While I can't wait to start on the back garden and get all my veggie beds installed I also want to have lots of beautiful flowers that can be cut for the home. In fact I've found another area that could handle 4 roses so I'm thinking a yellow, dark red and maybe a black rose to complement to the white 'Iceberg' bush rose that still needs to be moved.

  
While there is still a long way to go the bones are now in place and I can see where the front garden is heading. Next job is to remove the 3 cordylines in the front corner (these have been gifted to a friend) and to plant a row of ornamental pear trees Pyrus calleryana 'Capital' along the side fence. Then it's on to the brick paver edges for the path and installing the pink crushed granite.....and then it's on to painting the front of the house!!! (did you just hear that HUGE sigh????)

But seriously....I'm loving the journey! Darren and I have been working together in the gardens to create our new home. Darren has never been a real garden enthusiast (unless it's sitting in one with a G&T in his hand :-) but here at Bird Cottage he's discovered his green-thumb and is really enjoying seeing what we are creating.

Each day bring another job but at the end there is the joy of seeing what we have created with our own hands. It's sometime hot, hard work but it's always rewarding.

So now that autumn is here it's time to do that pruning you've been putting off; fertilise the lawns and garden beds with slow-release fertiliser and spray for weeds. The growing season is starting to slow down now that the days are cooling, but if the sun is shining make sure you make the most of those beautiful autumn days.....and get gardening!