PLANNING THE LANDSCAPING

While the external works may come at the end of a self build project, if you don’t want to be left surrounded by the last vestiges of a building site for months on end, they need to be planned in advance.

We started looking at this in detail back in

May and have appointed local firm TL Jenkins Landscaping, who will be on site next week to get started on getting the soil levels right. As part of our brief, we marked up a version of Lapd’s site plan to identify our main requirements (see left). Graven Hill’s rules require SUDS (sustainable drainage systems) so at the front of the house, we’re specifying a modern, resin-bound permeable driveway from Sureset, who will supply and install this for us once the sub-base is in. It should prove an attractive, durable and low-maintenance solution for the Education House – and Sureset offers a 21 year guarantee when using an approved installer.

Other key features of the landscaping design include closeboard fencing (another condition of our planning permission), gravel paths at the side of the house, an Indian sandstone patio and a mixture of beds, borders and evergreen yew hedging. It’s not the fastest grower, but should deliver on its reputation as the ‘king of hedges’ after five years or so – and will provide a great habitat for wildlife.