Small Town Garden / NL

With only  minor adjustments made by Studio Botaniq,a massive impact was achieved in this town garden in Haarlem. Some of the functional wishes of the garden owners were for example, to enter the garden barefooted, to have friends over for a barbecue, to sunbathe and relax as well as enjoy a glass of wine in the evenings within their garden space. They also asked us to incorporate a space to grow fresh herbs for their kitchen. Other requests entailed having the garden form an extension of the living room and match the interior of the house. Firstly, we got rid of the pea gravel and the huge 1×1 meter slabs that made the garden much smaller than it actually was. We used the same dark grey slabs that were also laid in the kitchen. We then removed some of the slabs and filled the gaps with low ornamental grasses and aromatic thyme, creating an authentic extension from indoor to outdoor. A raised timber platform invites the owners to sunbathe during the day and to lounge in the evenings. A sun sail provides shade in the midsummer as well as attaining privacy  from neighbouring apartments situated  above the garden . We placed an outdoor carpet under the patio dining set, thereby adding a living room touch to the garden. We painted the bare wooden fence with a dark grey coating, mounted a vertical herb garden and planted some climbers against the wall. With the ambient lighting, the owners can enjoy long evenings outside during the warm summer months.