Attachments of the TGi
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Case 5 – Maria Grazia’s garden
Here are the names of landscape architects that you can consult in the Bologna area:
Studio Raspanti – www.studioraspanti.it
Arte & Giardini – www.arte-giardini.it
Good morning and welcome to the new appointment with real cases.
where we will study the part prior to the actual planning of the garden but which makes it the inevitable basis because the actual project will then be based on this data and this study.
In this episode we will deal with Maria Grazia’s garden, a beautiful, very large garden, which the homeowners wish to design.
Let’s start with a panoramic tour of the garden.
First, as always, let’s take a walk around the garden.
The part we see in the video is not the whole garden, it is the part we will deal with.
In fact, the green part also goes around the house, but the one to be designed is the one in front of the pergola area.
You can see the paved area and the pergola under which you can have lunch. Let’s look again at the paved area to notice the grate, which probably overlooks the garages, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you can see that on the right the garden develops lengthwise.
In this second video, however, we are looking at the other side of the garden, the one that extends towards the right, but before showing you this video, let’s take a look at the plan.
This is the garden plan. At the bottom right you can see the house, after which the garden goes around the building but develops towards the north for a nice long stretch, being a very nice garden as I told you before. You saw how large the porch was and imagine the garden.
We continue to see the video showing the rest of the garden. You can see the gate at the end, and the buildings overlooking the property. You can see the part in front of the house and then the large hedge, very high, which protects from the view from outside. There are some essences that already exist, mostly peripheral.
We follow the Garden World order in the study
Now, as always, let’s proceed in order with the points we have inserted in the TeleGiardino to help you plan your garden or in any case carry out a study of your garden.
I remember, in fact, that the project is not a small thing. To design a house you can’t invent architects overnight. Likewise, to design a garden you cannot invent landscape architects or designers. It is not possible to do a good garden project alone.
Of course, if you want to put up a hedge or a flowerbed there is no problem, but if you want to organize an outdoor space it becomes more complicated and Mondo del Giardino always recommends placing it in the hands of a trained professional.
At the end of this video we will give suggestions on who to contact for the project in your area.
The first point we will work on will be deciding what to do in the garden
(which is the second because in this case we are not interested in drawing up the floor plan)
Mrs. Maria Grazia tells us that in the garden she wants to put a swimming pool, a basement and a walkway that leads to the fence at the end of the garden towards the north.
Furthermore, it asks not to eliminate existing plants, some of which have just been planted, some of which have been present for decades. We not only agree not to remove these plants, but we absolutely agree with you in not wanting to do so so we will work in the parts where there are no plants.
Point 3 concerns evaluating the shadow and light areas
We need to study how the sun rotates. Mrs. Maria Grazia warns us that, since the hedges are very high, the sun is not present in the garden after four and therefore is present in the morning in that part in front of the house until four in the afternoon.
Point 4 the views to be covered or enhanced. Let’s go back to the video for a moment.
To the north there is the whole side on which the houses are located, where there are plants, but in winter they don’t cover the garden because they strip them. The rest of the garden, however, is not only protected from view but does not even allow you to look out so there are no views to enhance or cover.
On this side where there are the houses that now appear, let’s say that a bit of privacy is lost and therefore something should be added here.
Point 5. Let’s move on to deciding where to do what.
For this aspect we make use of Photoshop giving suggestions on how to insert the elements which are practically two.
An idea which is mine and therefore comes from a single landscape designer and may not meet the taste of the owners, but meets their needs, is to insert a swimming pool in an area closer than the one they suggested.
In my opinion the view of the paved part is too rigid. So squared, in fact, it isn’t beautiful to look at and is a bit annoying and useless. Right now you simply have to walk down to get to the lawn area.
I suggest inserting a swimming pool that partially breaks the rigidity of this paved area with a free shape that the customer decides and inserting around, at the end of the stone paved area, a wooden paved area that allows you to experience the surroundings of the swimming pool.
This flooring can be wooden, it can be a small beach as Mrs. Maria Grazia said.
The Grove
For the walkway, however, I envisage a route that allows you to take walks and that goes all around the northern area. I see the material of the walkway as stabilized so that it is easy to walk on and does not particularly dirty the shoes. It is made up of several layers, a mixture of pebbles, sand etc. and is very beautiful to look at if done well, furthermore it is also very pleasant to travel on, it does not bother the trees and can also be traveled by bicycle.
Let’s make a ring that anyone can run along if they want and do a bit of exercise.
Let’s add an entrance area from the gate at the end. I would also think about a small internal car park to be able to leave the car. A dirt link to the ring and the clear insertion of trees which we see as a grove.
The grove, with a whole series of trees, also allows you to isolate this northern part which was a little bare towards the nearby buildings, to walk in the shade and to have a nice refreshing area.
The relaxation area
At the edge of the grove, to the south, I also add a couple of plants to create a rest area.
It is true, in fact, that it seems that the sun has no longer been in the garden since 4 in the afternoon, but it is also true that the sun could still beat down on the porch and if you want to take a refreshing break in the shade you need an area in point other than the table on the porch. A table and a couple of benches with an informal design are inserted and, along the path, stone seats that look towards the inside of the grove and allow you to stop. They can also be inserted in the center: the distribution of seats is infinite.
From the rest area there is the famous gneiss path that reaches the swimming pool so that if someone is sunbathing in the pool, they get bored and want to go to the cool of the foliage for a bit – which is different from the cool under the porch, heads towards this relaxation rest area to read or chat with someone.
The rules on swimming pools
Mrs. Maria Grazia asked if it is true that the completely underground swimming pool increases the value of the house. The law once said that if you completely bury the swimming pool, the value of the property increases and becomes a luxury property. Today this is no longer the case. Today, the law generally says that it becomes a luxury piece of furniture if the swimming pool is larger than 80 m2. and the depth can be any, in fact we are not talking about cubic metres, but about square metres.
However, we recommend that you still find out from your municipality because each municipality may have different rules and may require different documents to do so. This way you also ensure that you are not in an area protected by any restrictions and this always matters. In summary, Italian law says this, but it is better if you find out from your municipality to be on the safe side.
Mondo del Giardino’s articles on swimming pools
We also remind you that on Mondo del Garden there are three articles that talk about swimming pools, one on the inclusion of a swimming pool here with the related costs, one on the inclusion of a biolake here, where chemical products are not used for pool management and an article dedicated to mini pools, i.e. outdoor hydromassages here.
Point 6 what you see from inside the house
from the windows of the living room you look towards the porch and straight towards the hedge therefore, looking at the floor plan, the points that we are interested in noticing are towards the swimming pool and the relaxation area.
This invites us to insert some flowerbeds with some flowers to see behind the pool but also around the relaxation area so that when we go to sit in that area to rest, we can enjoy the greenery around.
The points where we place these flowerbeds are central in the garden and the sun shines for more than half a day so you can put almost anything there. After which, for example, a flowerbed can also be designed to the south but, being more in the shade due to the tall trees, it will have different essences.
Returning to the views from the inside, looking outwards we see the swimming pool with a truly interesting green background.
We are at point 7: what style does it give to the garden
In this case it is not necessary to give the style of the garden because there are two important elements: the swimming pool which can be freely chosen by the owners of the house and the paths and seats which, depending on the style they want to give, the hosts can always choose freely choosing one material or another.
Point 8 how to pave the garden
We have already given directions regarding the stabilized dirt path and instead of gneiss the one that goes from the swimming pool to the relaxation area.
Conclusions
The study of this garden has been carried out. Indications were given on how to divide the spaces and how to organize the garden according to the requests made.
We hope you liked it and found it useful.
We also hope that these indications can also be used on other gardens of our readers.
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See you 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 Maria Grazia for the photos, video and plan of her garden. We also thank Ngwood – decking, Terra solid Promotec Srl, Fratelli Pellizzari, Verde Progetto, Legni Tropicali.
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