Room With A View - A Garden Outside the Window
If the view outside a window isn't what you would like to see, why not add a small decorative garden?
23/03/2023
After transforming my DIY Divas workshop back into a lounge for the family, everything is done bar a few additions here and there. One such addition is to add a decorative feature outside the large window. It was a concrete pad that carried rainwater away from the house and into a French drain due to the absence of a gutter but now a gutter has been installed and I am free to use this blank space for something else. Sitting in the room and looking out the window to see a patch of concrete isn't exactly a view to frame, but it is what it is. Now that I can put that space the use, here is how I set up a small decorative garden using plants, materials, and supplies from my local Builders Warehouse.
The concrete pad in front of the window is ready for its transformation into a decorative garden.
"Why buy everything at Builders and not at a local garden centre?" you might ask. Well, I was waiting for one of their regular price promotions to see if I could get everything at a discount and I mostly did, so that saved me a bit of money. Having said that, this wasn't an expensive project and you can set a tight budget if you need to, or you can even use plants or materials that you already have lying in the garden at home.
1. Decide on a layout
Before you purchase what you need, have an idea in mind so that you don't forget anything. My plan was to cover up the concrete slab with premium potting soil so that I could plant a few low-root plants to add texture and colour.
Think about how you need to corral the soil because in my situation I only wanted the decorative garden in front of the window and I used some garden sleepers (Rhodesian Teak) to create a closed-off area for the soil to be contained. If you already have soil in this area, dig it up with a fork and batter away any lumps and remove stones so that it is smooth.
2. Incorporate textures
Using a long paving block that I already had, I added a few smaller concrete blocks to lay out a pattern that would look interesting through the window. Some paving blocks were left out and replaced with the small plants I selected from the Builders garden section.
After planting, a couple of bags of black crushed gravel were laid over the top of the soil to the level of the paving blocks. The gravel will also act as a layer of mulch to keep the soil cool when the weather is hot.
Room with a view
Now, the view from the window looks much better. The blank concrete pad has been covered over and the plants, gravel, and pavers make for a pretty little garden that didn't cost that much.
