Minimal maintenance landscaping for Holiday Cottage in Devon
One advantage of being a well established company with some great teams and diverse skills, is that we can offer a wide range of services regardless of the type of the project. Delivering commercial clearance, construction and maintenance at Cranbrook town brought us close to managers and architects overseeing the process on site - Peter Prior Consortium Manager and Kay Fleming Landscape Architect at FPCR were amongst them. Thus, when they decided to complete a mill conversion in their own property - they already knew a reliable landscaping company which could fulfil their vision with close attention to detail.
The brief was clear - the purpose for conversion was to become a high-end rental property with attractive outdoor space, however the garden maintenance needed to be kept to a minimum. Of course, when designing residential gardens, we tend to include complex structures, layouts and varied planting schemes as the after-care is often a highly rewarding family activity. However, when it comes to running a holiday home, changeovers between guests are stressful and only allow a couple of hours, so owners prefer gardens not to be an extra burden. Therefore, the main challenge was to create a garden where guests could relax and enjoy the outside space, whilst keeping to easily maintainable plants and materials.
A common solution for many holiday cottages is to replace large lawns with areas of gravel, patio or decking. This means that more functional space is added for entertainment facilities such as hot tubs, saunas, fire pits, BBQs and al fresco dining where guests can gather to fully enjoy the time away in the fresh air. Our key designer Penny Pritchard incorporated many of these hard surfaces together with an inviting wood-fired hot tub and easily accessible hardy plants that require minimal maintenance but will add structure and colour all year round. This will help owners to stay in control and keep things looking neat.
Wonder if your holiday home could benefit from working together with Bengers? Call us on 01404 831844 and select the Domestic Option. We will carefully listen to your landscaping needs and take care of everything for you.
For more information about this beautiful project, please refer to a published case study article in December's issue of Self Build & Design Magazine. Image used is ©Unique Homestays, to book the property visit www.uniquehomestays.com or ring +44(0)1637 881183 .