5.1-5.3 hard landscaping (horizonal/vertical/rock gardens/water features) Flashcards
Definition of hard landscaping
All non-living features and may be functional (GH, paths, fences) or aesthetic (pergolas, walls, statuary) or recreational (patios, terraces, play areas)
Horizontal elements: paths - (Yorkstone paving, limestone paving, gravel, concrete paving, bark chippings, timber decking wood) patios, steps, decking
Vertical elements:
walls (rough cut sandstone, concrete blocks, engineering bricks, reclaimed bricks), fences - marking a garden boundary, retaining wall or raised beds
Brick wall with metal vine yes and wire stretched between them for Wisteria sinensis to grow
screens - hide unsightly object, provide privacy, grow climbing plants,
Timber trellis to screen bin area. Grow dense climber eg, Hedera,
pergolas - provide shade for seating area, to grow plants,
eg hardwood posts, beams and rails over a sunny patio with climbers encouraged over
Rustic archway - entrance to cottage garden, from corylus with bark retained for rose to grow over
furniture
statuary, provide a focus point
Horizonal elements: Concrete - uses, benefits, limitations
Uses: many
Available in wide variety of shapes, sizes and colours. May be used to make geometric patters or used in crazy paving. Relatively inexpensive and of uniform size and thickness
Hard wearing, low maintenance
visually uninteresting, although coloured and imprinted concrete can imitate stone or brick
Poured concrete can be poured to fit irregular shapes
Energy-intensive to manufacture
Horizonal elements: Concrete and reconstituted stone slabs
Uses: many
Available in wide variety of shapes, sizes and colours. May be used to make geometric patters or used in crazy paving. Relatively inexpensive and of uniform size and thickness, Durable minimum maintenance. Easy to lay
Not sustainable in construction and some skill required. Blocks are heavy to move and transport
Horizonal elements: Bricks and blocks
Uses:
Small and large areas of hard landscaping
Durable, of standard sizes, available in many colour and can be used to create patterns. Bricks age well
durable, weather proof, minimal maintenance
Horizonal elements: Gravel and stone chippings
Uses:
alpine gardens, drives
Available in many grades. Heavy but easy to transport and lay and are cheaper than many other materials
Plants can grow through gravel and seed freely, or permeable woven membrane may be laid underneath to prevent plant growth
Needs to be contained and unsuitable next to grassed areas that require mowing.
Noisy to walk on so many improve security
Horizonal elements: Natural stone
Uses: variety
Granite is extremely hardwearing
York stone is softly coloured and mellows with age
Stone is expensive and heavy and slabs may be of unequal thickness (so difficult to lay)
Potential damage to environment through extraction of the material
Transporting materials long distance is not sustainable
To avoid quarrying, use reclaimed material
Dry stone walling avoids use of cement
Horizonal elements: Wood
Aesthetically pleasing
If sourced the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) scheme is from a renewable source
Can use reclaimed railway sleepers or scaffolding boards
Hardwood is long lasting if treated
Softwood needs high levels of maintenance and is not long lasting
Easily cut and shaped - lightweight to move
Wood can become slippery if not cleaned of algae, etc, regularly also liable to rotting - not durable - softwood lifespan of 10-15 years
Decking can be used as seating or entertaining area or levelling uneven ground, or a boardwalk over boggy ground, or a viewing platform to provide views
Horizonal elements: Bark chippings
Readily available renewable resource that is light to transport, easy to lay and rots down to enrich the soil.
Soft to walk on and blends well in a natural setting
Travels and needs replenishing periodically
Vertical elements: Timber
Uses: fencing
easy and cheap to construct
Can be designed to suit many different styles: picket fencing for cottage gardens, to more elaborate designs for formal gardens
Two categories: prefabricated panels like larch-lap/softwood timber panels and those made from smaller units like post and rail
Lattice designs effectively filter winder - hazel hurdles may be sourced locally or in garden
Timber requires painting or treating with preservative
Wicker, bamboo, reeds
Railway sleepers could be used to make retaining wall
Vertical elements: Brick
Uses: walls
Long lasting
More expensive and require skill to construct
uniform size is an advantage
Works well in formal and informal settings and in traditional and contemporary designs
Should be topped with coping to prevent water ingress and freeze thaw damage
Reclaimed bricks give established style AND more sustainable
Vertical elements:
Rock/stone (Purbeck, Cotswold, sandstone limestone)
Uses: stone/dry stone walls
Dry stone construction is highly skilled. Stone walls are long lasting but materials and construction is expensive. Weathers well.
Granite/Marble: statuary
Limestone: walls - flat material making laying easier - weathers well
Flint - used to face up walls and unifies well in areas where there are flints in the soil
Slate
Natural and Man-Made Materials for Vertical Elements
Human-Made
Walls
Natural
Stone e.g. York stone or Flint
Clay for a cob wall
Human-Made
Walls
Brick
Concrete blocks
Fences
Natural
Timber e.g. larch lap
Bamboo
Human-Made
Plastic
Geotextile membrane
Screens
Natural
Corylus, Salix hurdles
Coir
Human-Made
Plastic
Coloured glass
Pergola
Natural
Treated Pinus (softwood)
Treated Quercus (hardwood)
Human-Made
Brick
Iron or steel
Furniture
Natural
Wood
Natural stone
Human-Made
Resin
Plastic
Statuary
Natural
Wood
Natural stone (marble)
Human-Made
Resin
Bronze
Rock gardens - examples
Scree slopes
traditional
troughs
Natural rock
Sandstone - visible strata - ages well. pH neutral to acid
Limestone - clearly defined racks and crevices, but now under threat because of extensive quarrying
Tufa - porous limestone full of air pockets. Expensive, difficult to source and under threat in the natural environmnet
Natural rock
Sandstone - visible strata - ages well. pH neutral to acid
Limestone - clearly defined racks and crevices, but now under threat because of extensive quarrying
Tufa - porous limestone full of air pockets, so light. Expensive, difficult to source and under threat in the natural environmnet
Granite - heavy, dense and unsympathetic backdrop to plants. Does not age well
Man made - pulhamite, concrete troughs and sinks and porcelain covered with with hypertufa
Pulhamite: Victorian invention of cement, sand and clinker poured over crushed bricks and rubble
Stone troughs are rare, but can be made of concrete
Butlers sinks can be covered with hypertufa (peat, coarse sand or fine grit and cement in 1:1:1 ratio)
Benefits of troughs: can adapt soil and aspect to suit selected plants and display is raised closer to eye level (easier to care for too)
Water features examples
open water: wildlife ponds, rills
Self contained features: fountains, pebble ponds
Moving: statue on plinth as fountain
Water from a spout in the entre of raised pond
A rill - narrow shallow channel made from steel or polished stone with square cut stone edges and no planting. Water falls from the rill into a square pool
A stream - meandering down a slop - water falls over irregularly placed rocks and stones. Edges planted with native marginals/ferns
A reciprocating rock and pebble pumped from reservoir through hole in rock or hewn stone trickling onto pebbles before draining into reservoir below - may be formal or informal depending on form and materials
Water features - materials - manmade
Pond construction:
Pre-formed plastic or fibre glass
Benefits: easy to install, tough, long lasting, ready-made planting shelves at different depths
Limitations: shape is predetermined and size and shape may be limited, colours may be unsympathetic, transport may be awkward
Flexible liners Butyl/PVC
Benefits: relatively easy to install, tough and long lasting, transportation is easier, butyl can be welded to any shape or size, can incorporate bog gardens and can be mended
Limitations: butyl is expensive, PVC is not tough or long lasting, PVC cannot be mended,
Site preparation must be thorough
Concrete
Benefits: hard waring, long lasting
Limitations: materials are heavy, difficult to construct and repair, must be sealed or cured to prevent lime leaching
Puddled clay
Clay cracks if allowed to dry out
Water features - materials - natural
Puddled clay
Benefits: plants can be planted directly into the pond, natural material, which blends easily into naturalistic setting, long lsting
Limitations: only suitable for larger scale ponds and lakes, fairly expensive to install
Stones
Drilled natural stones for self contained features, eg. pebble ponds
