Garden Design and Build in Coundon
An awkward, angled plot turned into a family garden the whole household uses every day
The family wanted somewhere to eat outside, host friends and let the children play. DNA planned a layout that makes the most of an irregular, angled plot, then built it in marble-effect porcelain, fresh turf, sleeper-edged beds and a pergola.
“Everything We Wanted and More”
The clients “When we’d seen the garden for the first time, we were over the moon. It was everything that we wanted and more.”
The clients “They’re out every night. We haven’t had a space like this, and now we’re eating dinner out here and hosting family and friends.”
The clients “They can let their kids play in a safe space, while the adults enjoy a drink and a bite to eat.”
The clients “If you’ve been putting your garden off, it’s the best thing we have ever done. It’s finished our house off.”
Read the full transcript
The clients: When we’d seen the garden for the first time, we were over the moon. It was everything that we wanted and more. If you’ve been putting your garden off, it’s the best thing we have ever done. It’s finished our house off. It’s a worthwhile investment. Definitely.
DNA Landscapes: We’ve been transforming outdoor spaces now for around 13 years, and the main reason we keep going is job satisfaction, and how the customer reacts once we’ve transformed that space for them.
The clients: Having this garden finished, and how we use it, has made a massive impact on our family life, and on the kids themselves. They’re out every night. We haven’t had a space like this, and now we’re eating dinner out here and hosting family and friends, so it’s just changed the way everything really is, isn’t it?
The clients: Our friends and family have loved it, haven’t they? They think it looks great. We host here now, so people enjoy the space. We’re seeing friends more because people are coming round. It’s great. They’re bringing their kids as well. They can let their kids play in a safe space, while the adults enjoy a drink and a bite to eat.
DNA Landscapes: I knew that this project was going to be exceptional right from the start, because we worked with great clients who had a good vision and allowed us to create that outdoor space for them. Anything’s possible. The only limitation is imagination.
From Bare Ground to a Family Garden
Making an Angled Plot Work
The family wanted a garden they would actually live in: somewhere to eat, to have friends round and to let the children play safely. The plot made that harder than it sounds. It is not a rectangle. It widens into an angled wedge, the kind of shape that leaves awkward corners if the design simply follows the fences.
The plan turned the angle into the feature. The paving runs on a diagonal from the house patio out to a pergola in the far corner, with lawns either side and raised beds along the edges.
Materials Chosen for a Busy Family Garden
The paving is Calacatta marble-effect porcelain: pale, softly veined and, unlike real marble, almost impervious to water, so spilt drinks and muddy feet wash off. Laid in large slabs, it gives the terrace clean lines and makes the whole garden feel brighter.
The raised beds are edged in timber sleepers and planted with Salvia, Anemone, Euonymus and Nepeta for colour, scent and texture through the seasons. Fresh turf fills the lawns, and slatted Venetian fencing gives the boundary a modern finish. The pergola in the far corner makes an outdoor room, somewhere to sit and eat in the shade and still see the children playing.
A Garden That Changed How the Family Lives
The clients put it simply: they are out in the garden every night, eating dinner outside and seeing friends more, because people now come round. That is the real measure of a design. It is not how the garden photographs on the day it is finished, but whether it gets used.
Not every Coundon plot is a neat rectangle. Where a garden narrows, widens or turns a corner, measuring it properly and planning every area on paper first is what turns an awkward shape into its best feature. Planning something similar? Our garden design packages explain how a plan like this one is drawn, and our Coventry garden design page shows more of the city’s gardens.
More Gardens We Have Designed
Questions About This Garden
Can you design a garden for an irregular or angled plot?
Yes. This Coundon garden widens into an angled wedge, so the plan set the paving on a diagonal to link the house, the lawns and the pergola. An awkward shape usually gives a design more to work with, not less, once it is measured and drawn properly.
What is Calacatta marble-effect porcelain?
Porcelain paving made to look like Calacatta marble, pale with soft grey veining. Unlike real stone it absorbs very little water, so it resists staining and needs far less upkeep, which suits a busy family garden.
Is light-coloured porcelain hard to keep clean?
Light colours show dirt sooner than dark ones, but porcelain wipes and washes clean easily because so little soaks in. An occasional wash is usually all it needs.
Can a garden design include a pergola?
Yes. Here a pergola at the far corner creates a shaded outdoor room for dining and relaxing, positioned on the plan so it can be seen from the house and reached across the terrace.
What was planted in the raised beds?
Salvia, Anemone, Euonymus and Nepeta: colourful, fragrant planting that brings life and texture to the edges of the terrace, set in raised beds edged with timber sleepers.
Do you design and build gardens in Coundon?
We do, along with the neighbouring parts of north-west Coventry. The first step is a visit from Andy to walk the plot, hear what you want from it and recommend the right level of design.
Been putting your garden off?
Andy will come and walk the garden with you, and sketch out what an awkward space could become.
