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Case 4 – Cinzia’s garden
Hello and welcome once again to the series of videos dedicated to real cases of Gardens, where we will study the part preceding the actual design of the Garden, but which makes it the inevitable basis, because it will be based on these data and on this study that we will do then the actual project.
Today’s case is Case 4 – Cinzia’s Garden.
The property is located in the province of Ancona and measures approximately 670 m² excluding the house.
Now as you can see we have set the floor plan in the right direction, having given us Mrs. Cinzia,
the north direction, we have placed it in correspondence with the north of the drawing. So let’s see the
floor plan laid out with east to right and west to left as in nature. This is clearly the direction of the sun.
Now we will see the video that goes around the Garden
as always, starting from the southern area, let’s say, which is the official entrance to the house.
Well, let’s start from the entrance, where some macrophilla hydrangeas and also a paniculate here at the beginning are positioned. You see the entrance driveway which, among other things, Mrs. Cinzia would like to change the flooring.
The olive tree in the center of the first lawn, the slightly sloping lawn.
Second olive tree, second downhill area, with wells, then we’ll talk about this problematic area
for the Lady, the fence to insert and we can already say that around, there is a magnificent spectacle, a stupendous panorama, marvelous and very reassuring, nothing to cover, nothing that could be a nuisance, putting a fence is almost a sin.
And here you turn to the other area with a tub of tuff water lilies, an uphill meadow, which goes around. Later we will also do an analysis of the windows derived from the photographs overlooking the garden.
The northern part of the garden
where there is another exit that opens onto the steep part of the garden, which however is natural and they do not want it to be considered for the project, because it is planted with fruit trees and flowering shrubs, looking back here you can clearly see the slope, the part north is already a bit planted with some very nice flowering shrubs. The path that leads to the back of the house, which is also the area where there is a table and chairs for eating and a paved area on which there is no French window, and is somewhat unused, despite being paved, a small well, beautiful, and precisely the area behind which is almost service, in fact Mrs. Cinzia, we’ll see later, wants to put something in and we agree.
This is precisely the very nice stepped part.
Now, as in the previous cases, let’s start the study using the videos we have prepared on the site www.mondodelgiardino.com on the TGI il TeleGiardino page.
How to make the plan of the garden?
In this case, for example, Mrs. Cinzia very kindly gave us a plan with measured parts, as we can see in the image.
Bringing the drawing back to AutoCAD some measurements don’t add up, in the case of the actual project the measurements will be resumed and everything will be sized.
Case 4 – Cinzia’s garden. The second point is deciding what to do in the garden
, therefore, if we had to look at the actions that we want to carry out and the activities that we want to carry out in the garden, Mrs. Cinzia would like a swimming pool with relative flooring around it, she wants a relaxation area and would also like to put a small house at the end of the paved area, therefore in the area that we come in photos. For the relaxation area, then we’ll do the
assessments to decide where to put it. Regarding the entrance area, she has a problem of slipping of the earth towards the fence and the earth percolates with the water towards the manhole cover. In this photo you can see it well and would like to transform it from a lawn area to a gravel area.
We will make some considerations on this point to understand what happens and how to fix it.
Lastly, he asked that the Hydrangea area be kept unchanged.
Case 4 – Cinzia’s garden. Third point evaluate the areas of shadow and light.
So some considerations on the circle of the sun. The sun sets out from the east and, curving slightly towards the south, reaches the west during the day. So when it’s to the east the house casts a shade on this side.
Then as the sun turns around, the southern part goes to the sun and the north is definitely more sunny during the day. The southeast part receives the least amount of sun. The southwest part a little more and those to the west and northwest are the ones that receive the most.
This area where the house will go is actually quite shady.
So the area for the pool is the one to the northwest for sunbathing, that is, where there is more.
After all, it is clear that there is half a day of sun in the Hydrangea area because they are in excellent health. They want at most half a day of sun, so that area is fine and perfect for the Lady’s request to keep the Hydrangeas there: a feasible and absolutely marryable request.
From this photo, however, it can be seen that since the house is not very tall, the garden is still very much in the sun.
Point 4 the views to be covered or enhanced.
Taking a look at this image taken from Google, our home is this one.
The road behind is further up, so the assessment is on the outer cover, i.e. what to cover and what to value.
In this case it’s not so much about what you can see from the outside from the garden, but how to protect the garden from being seen from the outside.
Since there is a swimming pool, perhaps since there are children – we don’t know now – but in short, to be protected in swimming costume, rather than other situations of privacy, it will be the case that in the steep part where there are fruit trees, these grow enough to cover the view both from this street above it and from the houses immediately above it.
So looking at the Google floor plan in this area right here.
Speaking instead of the fence. In the view we are seeing, this corner is certainly the one with the fence that should better shield the house because behind the backs of the photographer there are houses.
It is the only point where there are houses and therefore one could think of putting a few more plants and this is advice, after which clearly the will of the landlord in this case does a lot.
Before moving on to point 5, deciding where to do what, I would like to address point 6 which affects deciding where to do what, i.e. what can be seen from inside the house.
Mrs. Cinzia kindly sent us this image where she marked some information on the drawing on which rooms in the house are, for example this is the kitchen, the porch, the living area and then she marked some things outside, that’s fine.
There will probably be rooms in the other windows.
Let’s do an analysis on the photographs of these windows that look outwards.
So let’s start from the entrance this window from towards the street and in front of an olive tree. Then there is the entrance is a French window that opens onto a small porch. Here in front is the olive tree, not exactly, let’s say that there is this area close to the review which is one of the parts that we need to fix.
This is what the lady shows us from the French window towards the entrance.
Then there’s the long side that only sees a window on the living room side.
This is the area instead where the two French windows open, one from the living room and one from the kitchen, the area where there is the dining table and where there is also the path that starts and arrives at this arch of roses which is then the one that leads to the area of fruit trees.
This photo still shows the living room area, the corner with table and chairs, but from which you can also see the paved area at the back and now we will see the windows facing it.
I point out this plant that will become tall
it could also be a fruit plant, which however covers everything behind it as it is. Probably they wanted to limit the view of the paved area, but in the place where it is instead it cuts the view to the rest of the garden and therefore we will see how to fix it.
This is still the same paved area seen from above.
And this is the same area seen from the other side, practically having the end of the property behind it and also the point where the tool shed will be.
Because this is a blind spot, we have two windows that we can see that overlook this area, one is definitely the kitchen one.
And this could be from a room or a room, a study, in short.
Case 4 – il Cinzia’s garden. So now we’re ready to tackle step 5: deciding where to do what.
Let’s start with the front of the house.
Where we had the leach zone problem where the earth leached towards the review.
In this area we recommend making a rock garden and these are some examples.
Why the rock garden?
Because there will be some rocks that maybe you will choose not exactly very small, so that they hold the ground in place and, among the rocks, succulent plants will be inserted.
It is clear that this view of the rock garden being the view descending towards the fence will be seen above all from the inside. In order to be able to see it from the inside, we will make sure that the rock garden also reaches the flat part so that it can also be seen from the French window overlooking the entrance porch.
The plants between the rocks will hold on with their roots, they will hold the ground in place, which in this way will not give way downstream.
Building a rock garden is a more structured solution than the gravel that Mrs. Cinzia had in mind and more aesthetically interesting.
Another solution if you want to keep the lawn is to choose a type of grass with deeper roots.
The gravel, instead of what Mrs. Cinzia suggested to solve the problem, might not solve it because with the rains the gravel itself could slide down the slope and therefore it is not said that it will solve the situation.
As for the area where the hydrangeas are present?
This part on the side of the fence remains a little uncovered and a little empty which, among other things with respect to the window of a room here, would be a good perspective focus for the view.
So in this area, which is sunnier than the one where the hydrangeas are, one could think of some small shrubs, which can be looked at from the window.
The water lily area is very pretty and very interesting. Signora Cinzia proposed to change the tuff materials which actually don’t make much sense in that area and don’t go well together,
neither with the flooring that is there now, nor with Pietra Leccese, which the lady would like to replace the existing one and so why not think, maybe she has a small enlargement, doubling it for example.
Perhaps making a softer shape, seeing this semi-circle why not make it a circle in size, but with a more rounded, softer and surrounded shape, perhaps by small shrubs and small essences that look good near water, or even a small biolake, a very small pond intended as a biolake, i.e. with the presence of plants in the water. There are small ready-made bio lakes where one can plant his plants and maybe some small fish.
The pool area
in our opinion it is the one in the wider part of Prato, and a little closer than the center and the paths, so you can decide whether to take a path that arrives around the pool, clearly there will be flooring around the pool and there will be some paths that arrive at the existing path or an enlargement of the path that reaches the swimming pool, or with gneiss or with a slightly different flooring from the existing one, a little lighter, which reaches not so much the swimming pool as the paved area around the pool.
I added this pool because Mrs. Cinzia said she wanted a 3×6 pool, this one is 3×6, but it could also be a more natural shape, a rounded shape, a free shape that you can choose according to what you want, it could be such a form.
As for the cottage
this will be built in this area, perhaps not in contact with the bottom, leaving a path behind which other things could go that are not inside the house and making a roof that covers both sides, thus obtaining additional areas in addition to those inside.
And as far as the views from the windows are concerned, therefore the one we were talking about from the bedroom and the one we were talking about from the kitchen, in front of the kitchen there is the well which is great to see and it’s fantastic.
But in this area I would make some movements, that is, remove the flooring, restore the earth and the fruit tree now in front of the kitchen window, you will move it to the bottom that remains next to the well, enhancing it. I would put something a little tall next to it and some shrubs underneath, as they are also present in this second part.
There may be a palm tree or other fruit-bearing plant ahead here
there could be anything thinking about it a little high, but not too much, because it’s part of that part of the design that needs to be specifically thought out.
Since the area is in front of a wall, and therefore is very protected, if the owner loves cacti, he can indulge himself in putting a cactus garden area, perhaps coloring the wall behind always respecting the owner’s taste, even with a strong color , an orange, a red, as they say in Mexico, could be an idea or stay more romantic by trying to grow a gardenia.
In fact, sometimes the cultivation of a plant does not depend only on the macro-climate, i.e. the area in which we are in Italy, the area, the winds, the exposure of the house, but also on the micro-climate, i.e. the specific point. If protected by a wall, protected from the wind, etc., a plant can grow that perhaps would not grow in another part of the garden.
The relaxation area
I would think of two possible areas, making the front of the house very nice, and here are some examples, which would be the background, I would see it as a relaxation area in the shade, this one since it is already paved.
Of course, the paved area must be repaved because just like the pavement it is ruined.
Or the part adjacent to the pool which is still level.
This part would also have the added value of being in front of another window, and at this point I would think of essences that create a cover, a protection, perhaps with something lower in front and higher in the back, like two or three trees gigantic but large, which create the background and protection for this area of relaxation in the sun, but also a background for the view from the entrance to the pool with a crown of tall or medium-sized plants behind it.
Also for today we have finished our work of analysis and study of a royal garden and the garden of Cinzia.
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We hope to be seen as useful and see you at the next episode. Have a good week!
Now on horseback! Work awaits us! Our new wonderful outdoor space is about to be born!
GOOD WORK and… if you have any questions, write to info@mondodelgiardino.com
Image sources: thanks to Cinzia for the photos, the video and the plan of her garden,
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