A garden RELAX IN

Heather turned a tricky outdoor area into a space for chilling out

- HEATHER YOUNG

Before we moved into our 1970s house, it had only had one owner – the whole house was in desperate need of updating,’ says Heather. ‘So that’s what we focused on first, which meant that the garden was largely forgotten. It was depressing to look out of the patio doors onto the side area and see weeds and mess.

‘The main back garden was already full of large, mature shrubs when we bought the house, so it was low-maintenance and we didn’t want to make any big changes. But the side area was an awkward space – you walk through it to get to our side gate – and it was uninspiring, with discoloured old paving slabs and an ugly patterned concrete wall.