From Building Site to Garden: Bringing the Green Back In

There’s a point during almost every garden transformation when you have to squint a bit and trust the process.

This one definitely had that moment.

When we first became involved, the garden was very much a construction site. New paving, walls, steps, fencing, a covered entertaining area and a fantastic circular sunken seating area were all taking shape, but there were wheelbarrows, blocks, bags, tools and dust everywhere.

The bones of a great garden were emerging, but it didn’t yet feel like a garden.

And that was our job – To make it ‘feel’ like a garden.

Working Together

Projects like this are rarely the work of one person or one trade. The landscaping and construction required skilled independent contractors to create the structure of the garden before we could begin doing what we love: softening it, planting it and bringing it to life.

And that collaboration matters – it’s one of our best skills here at Root and Bloom Gardens.

Good garden design isn’t simply about choosing some attractive plants at the end. We need to understand the finished levels, beds, walls, paths, seating areas and how people will actually move through and use the space.

Once the landscaping began taking shape, we could start thinking about the planting as part of the overall design rather than something added as an afterthought.

Then Came the Plants…

And quite a lot of them.

The strong black fencing and crisp white rendered walls created a brilliant contemporary backdrop, so the planting needed to complement that rather than fight against it.

We introduced a mixture of evergreen structure, grasses, shrubs, flowering perennials and contrasting foliage, repeating plants throughout the garden to connect the different areas.

The taller planting along the boundaries helps soften the fencing and will provide increasing screening as it matures.

Around the circular seating area, grasses and compact evergreen shrubs give rhythm and movement without overwhelming the architecture.

Elsewhere, purple flowers, darker foliage and fresh greens add little explosions of colour against all that black, white and stone.

Even the tall planters became part of the scheme, helping to frame the entrance to the sunken seating area and draw your eye into the space.

Planting Isn’t Just Digging Holes

There’s quite a bit hidden underneath the finished photographs.

Plants have to be selected, sourced and transported. Soil needs preparing and improving. Plants are positioned, moved, stood back from, moved again, planted, watered and fed.

Then there are dozens of empty pots, bags of compost, soil improver and gravel to clear away afterwards.

Basically, for every lovely photograph of a finished border there are approximately 4,000 black plastic pots lurking somewhere just outside the shot.

But that work makes the difference.

We don’t want a newly planted garden to look good for one photograph. The aim is to create something that gets better as it grows.

The Difference Planting Makes

This project is a great example of why we love soft landscaping.

The hard landscaping created an impressive outdoor space.

The planting turned it into a garden.

Suddenly the white walls feel softer. The black fencing becomes a backdrop. The seating area feels enclosed rather than exposed. Different parts of the garden begin to connect.

And this is only the beginning.

As the grasses bulk out, shrubs mature, flowers spread and the taller plants develop, the garden will become greener, softer and more established every season.

That’s perhaps our favourite part of what we do.

We don’t just plant the finished garden.

We plant what it’s going to become.

Thinking About Transforming Your Garden?

At Root & Bloom Gardens, we create bespoke planting plans and planting schemes for gardens across Winnersh, Wokingham, Woodley, Earley, Twyford and surrounding areas of Berkshire.

We can work alongside homeowners, landscapers and trusted independent contractors, helping to take a project from the muddy construction stage through to the bit everyone has been waiting for: the plants.

Whether you’ve completed a full garden redesign, have newly built raised beds or simply have a garden that needs more colour, structure and life, we’d love to help.

Good landscaping creates the space. Great planting changes how that space feels.