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Before and after · side passage · shade

Side of house garden ideas: the strip where the bins live, redesigned as a shaded path

A run of paving down the side of the house, wall to fence, with three wheelie bins, a covered barbecue and a stack of ladders, under a tree. From one photo, it was redesigned as a path of stone flags with a planted strip along the fence: ferns, hostas and foxgloves under the tree, a small Japanese maple, and ivy and periwinkle over the ground.

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After: the same passage with a stone flag path running through deep shade planting of ferns, hostas, foxgloves, periwinkle and a Japanese maple against the fence
Before: the owner’s photo. After: the design drawn from it.
How it works

One photo of your garden, redrawn with a finished design

Shown with another design from the gallery. This shade garden works the same way.

  1. A deep prairie border in a walled garden: purple salvia, orange geum, foxgloves, echinacea and lime green alchemilla spilling over a brick edge onto a lawn.The ideal design

    The garden you want

    A finished design from the gallery, with its planting and its materials.

  2. A different garden before any work: a plain rectangle of lawn between slatted timber fences, with a bench against a shed at the far end and two bare trees.Your garden

    Add your garden photo

    One picture of your garden that shows the whole plot.

  3. The same garden with that planting in it: a stone path winding to the same bench, echinacea, rudbeckia, liatris and grasses either side, the same fences, shed and trees kept.The result

    Your dream garden

    The same style of planting and the same materials, drawn around what was already there.

Transform My Garden like this First 3 designs free · no card · UK plantsOr start a design from scratch

This makeover at a glance

Style
Shade garden
Shape
A narrow strip between the house wall and the fence
Light
Shade, under a tree
Started as
Paving wall to fence, with the bins, a barbecue and the ladders

Kept

  • The house wall
  • The tree at the right
  • The canopy overhead
  • The gate at the far end

Changed

  • A stone flag path
  • Ferns, hostas, foxgloves
  • A Japanese maple
  • Ivy and periwinkle
In the design

Four side of house garden ideas from this shady passage

  1. A stone flag path, close up in the design
    Paving, wall to fence, the same spot beforeBefore

    Paving, wall to fence A stone flag path

    A stone flag path where the paving ran wall to fence

    The slabs that filled the strip go, and a path of stone flags takes the middle of it, with earth on both sides. It sits a little off the centre line, so the strip along the fence is deep enough to plant properly and the strip along the wall still has room for ivy.

  2. Ferns, hostas, foxgloves, close up in the design
    Bins along the fence, the same spot beforeBefore

    Bins along the fence Ferns, hostas, foxgloves

    Ferns and hostas under the tree, along the fence

    The strip along the fence is the deep one, and it is planted for the shade the tree makes: ferns for the texture, hostas for the broad leaves, and foxgloves for the spikes of flower that go up into what light there is.

  3. A Japanese maple, close up in the design
    A bare fence, the same spot beforeBefore

    A bare fence A Japanese maple

    A small Japanese maple against the fence

    One small tree with shape, beside the path and against the fence. It is the one new tree in the design, and it breaks the long run of fence in two, so the passage feels like a garden you walk through. Japanese anemones sit at its feet and flower late in the year.

  4. Ivy and periwinkle, close up in the design
    Paving to the wall, the same spot beforeBefore

    Paving to the wall Ivy and periwinkle

    Ground cover for shade: periwinkle by the path, ivy along the wall

    Beside the path there is periwinkle, its violet flowers low down among the leaves, and along the foot of the wall, where the paving was, ivy. Together they cover the ground between the bigger plants.

Before: a narrow side passage with paving slabs, three wheelie bins, a covered barbecue and stacked ladders against a bamboo screen fence, under a tree
Before: the owner’s photo.
Before

A paved run down the side of the house, where the bins live

Paving slabs from the house wall to the fence, three wheelie bins and a covered barbecue along the fence, a stack of ladders against the wall, and a tree over all of it.

It is a passage, so it gets walked, and the wall, the fence and the tree keep most of it in shade. That shade is what the design plants for.

The design keeps the house wall, the tree at the right, the canopy above and the gate at the far end where they were.

In the strip

Shade loving plants, under a tree

Seven plants, all of them chosen for shade.

  1. FernsThe texture, and most of the green
  2. HostasThe broad leaves
  3. FoxglovesSpikes of flower, up into the light
  4. Japanese mapleThe one new tree, for height and shape
  5. PeriwinkleViolet flowers along the ground
  6. Japanese anemonesAt the foot of the maple, flowering late
  7. IvyAlong the wall, where the paving was

With Pro, every design you make names every plant in it, how big each one grows, where it goes and when it flowers, so you know what to look for at the garden centre.

What you get

What comes back from one photo of your garden

  • Redesigned around your fences and trees. About two minutes after you add your photo, in the same style and materials as this garden.
  • Planting matched to your light and soil. Add your light and soil if you know them, and the planting follows them.
  • Every plant named, with Pro or Max. Pro is one payment: £29 for 20 designs over 14 days, two at once; Max, £49 for 50 over 30 days, four at once. Every one names its plants, how big each grows, where it goes and when it flowers.
  • Built by a professional gardener. Real plants that grow in UK gardens.
Transform My Garden like this First 3 designs free · no card · UK plantsOr start a design from scratch
Questions

Questions about this side of house design

Where do the three wheelie bins go?

The design gives the whole strip to the path and the planting and draws no bin store, so the bins need a home of their own, and that depends on your house. What made this strip their place was paving from wall to fence.

Does this work in a passage that gets no sun at all?

This one is under a tree, so it gets dappled light rather than none. For a passage with no sun, tell the app the light when you add your photo: it keeps the path and the style of planting and chooses plants for that shade.

How much does a garden makeover design like this cost?

Your first 3 garden designs are free, no card required. After that, Pro is one payment: £29 for 20 designs over 14 days, two at once; Max, £49 for 50 over 30 days, four at once, every plant named in every one, and clean pictures to keep.

Is the after picture a real garden?

The before is the owner’s own photo. The after is the design Garden Design App drew from it, using real plants you can buy in the UK.

Keep reading

More before and after garden makeovers

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After: the same garden with an irregular stone path winding through grasses, white anemones, foxgloves and peonies to the chairs at the far end
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After: the same yard with pale limestone paving, a curved lawn edged in brick and deep borders of catmint, salvias, coneflowers and climbing roses
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Modern garden makeover

Slabs, bare soil and a blank brick gable, redesigned as curved lawn and deep planted borders.

After: the same plot as a meadow garden, with a stepping stone path through deep borders of purple salvias, crimson scabious, pink coneflowers and grasses, wisteria and clematis on the fence beneath the gable, and the deck edged with lavender
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New build garden makeover

A rectangle of new turf beside a blank gable, redesigned as a meadow of salvias and scabious, with climbers on the fence and the shed.

After: the same plot as a white gravel garden, with one straight path of large grey slabs to a small patio under a white pergola, deep borders of white rock roses, lamb’s ears and white foxgloves along sage green fences, and agaves in terracotta pots
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Long garden makeover

A long plot of grey gravel and slabs, redesigned as a white gravel garden with one slab path to a pergola at the far end.

After: the same plot as a cottage garden, the lawn replaced by beds of delphiniums, foxgloves and roses either side of a stepping stone path to a metal bench, climbing roses on the side fences, catmint at the foot of the wall, a terracotta pot on the step and thyme in the joints of the patio
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Tiered garden makeover

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Gazebo garden makeover

A lawn gone brown and dry and an old summerhouse, redesigned as a cottage garden with an oak gazebo and a gravel path through lavender.

After: the same view with the pergola in full wisteria flower over the deck, a lawn with curved edges and deep borders of foxgloves, mullein, geum, catmint and black eyed Susans, a path of sandstone slabs through gravel to a small sandstone patio with a bistro table and two chairs to the right of the lawn, and the brick walls and back shrubs where they were
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Wisteria pergola garden makeover

A patchy lawn under a wisteria pergola, redesigned as a curved lawn with deep borders for bees and a sandstone patio to the right of the lawn.

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Wildlife pond garden makeover

A wide lawn scorched brown, redesigned as a gravel garden with a small pebble edged pond, drifts for bees and an oak bench at the far end.

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Winding path garden makeover

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Light and soil not recorded

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Transform My Garden like this