Inside job: Make most of those spaces right next to the garden
YES, I know, we’re not quite ready to hurl ourselves down on the clipped lawn as yet.
Still, with warm afternoons lighting up the odd weekend, those indoor areas hovering on the edge of the garden are increasingly inviting spaces to relax, dine and dream.
Conservatories and garden rooms are, in theory, at least, a bridge to nature — taking in the joy of the garden while retaining a sense of interior comfort. Still, some of these spaces are so urbane, they really count as a standard-level glazed room, with robust orangeries containing a kitchen or generous livingroom.
The traditional conservatory has a more rusticated charm, with outdoor style furnishings, raised planted beds, weighty containers, and a gentle, spare aesthetic as an overture to the simplicity and free spirit of the garden.
The most charming capture the soul of the Victorian greenhouse, while doing duty as reception rooms.
Whatever way you go, sylvan or sophisticated, with floor to ceiling windows or glazing set on dwarf walls, blessed daylight will envelope the space from the West and South even on the darkest day.
Without some light control, a conservatory or other glazed addition can be a place of blinding, overheated oppression. You simply won’t want to suffer it at certain hours.
If you’re lucky enough to have climbing plants with large leaves crossing the roof spans, in their full summer glory, the foliage will distil some of the dazzle. Still, for most of us window blinds offer an obvious refuge.
Hillarys, Thomas Sanderson and Acme, are some of the many companies offering manual and remotely operated blinds. A less-expensive approach to taming the sun’s influence, through the roof at least, is to add solar film directly to the glazing, internally or externally.
Products are available for both glass and polycarbonate surfaces that will reduce UV and infra-red light. Try Purlfrost.com.
With larger glazing — or in the case of a balcony being completely open to uninterrupted sunshine — UV light will swamp these indoor/outdoor areas day long. Over time this can lead to fading and even material damage, especially for darker dramatic colours.
Keep in mind that tough, non-fading upholstery fabrics designed for garden furniture in polypropylene and acrylics (outdoor pieces) are not generally rated for fire resistance or treated with a retardant. Look for an outdoor/indoor rating if you intend to use them inside for even short periods. Another simple solution for soft furnishings for conservatories and garden rooms is to use natural cotton in an already pale colour, and to again tailor the light entering the room.
If you are determined on curtains (which can fade in uneven columns due to the folds), choose pale shades, line them well, and team to blinds to give the fabric added protection.
If you keep plants or even grow a few micro-veggies in the space, ensure there is adequate ventilation to see off mildew and moulds speckling your textiles. Tiles graded wet-room style to a drain in the floor, make clean ups for the water heavy industry of indoor horticulturists so much easier.
Bamboo and rattan furniture has that romantic colonial edge for outdoor rooms, but dehydrated by heat and beaten by the sun’s rays, the binding to corners and weaves can disintegrate.
Resin pretenders to Lloyd loom (paper over wire) are a practical alternative. Both resin and rattan furniture is lightweight, and can be carried spontaneously to far reaches of the garden. Lloyd loom furniture responds well to a spray of new colour in an enamel finish if it’s starting to look too weather beaten.
Even a small patio reached by a French door from the kitchen or lounge can offer a launching site from your indoor spaces. As the weather lifts, take down heavy window dressings, rearrange furnishings to allow the doors to open fully, and stage a dining table and chairs right inside in relaxed, chalky, UV stable fabrics. Decorate the area with seasonal cuttings and arrange containers outside the doors to lead the eye to the burgeoning life in distant borders.
Generally tiny in dimension, balconies offer special challenges. What they do boast is good vertical space, often reaching the ceiling height of indoors. Ascend the walls with lattice trellis, containers or light, freestanding greenhouse systems such as the Hindo range from IKEA.
Wall mount as much as possible, even hanging up extra chairs out of the way on stout hooks. Don’t place anything so high that you cannot reach it easily from the floor- no steps please.
A few deck tiles laid to be absolutely flat (this is not a place for a theatrical trip towards the bonny-blue) can turn a cheap felt or cement floor to sophistication in an afternoon.
Wood tiling has the added advantage of being light and easily lifted if water pools after a deluge. If you want to add fixed tile, check with a structural engineer before using anything weightier than cement boarding or ceramic.
Folding furniture is ideal for flapping open as needed, but don’t worry too much about crowding the space with a comfortable table and chair as a tiny balcony is not somewhere you expect to stride around. The view and sense of communion with fresh air and your surroundings is the thing. Keep those soft furnishings stored right inside the balcony door to dress the area as needed.
As with enclosed conservatory style spaces, keep in mind the hand-hold between indoors and out, adding planting of some sort, even fake it if you suffer from black thumbs. Abigail Ahern’s new range of faux cactus and succulent planting has just arrived at Dust.ie in Dublin.
Gigantic real ferns are a current favourite for softening the corners of a balcony, providing an added veil of softly stirring privacy too.
The upright pallet bracketed to the wall of a balcony or patio is one of a number of ingenious answers to the no-garden vegetable garden. There are dozens of ideas online. Keep in mind that the inevitable mess you create with say grow bags on a balcony will be tracked straight indoors — be practical.
THE first thing to understand about DIY vertical gardening is that (a) it is not intended as a forever piece and (b) things could get messy.
Neatly trimmed up in a magazine illustration, vertical gardens looks remarkably tidy, but the truth is that living, breathing plants will drop leaves, drip, die off in patches and do require regular tidying.
Get yourself off to a good start with a herb rack in the kitchen set over a forgiving area like a kitchen counter, sink or balcony/conservatory wall where leaf loss and water dribbles are less of an issue.
A commercial module rack such as this clever poke-plant style product from Design-3000 in Germany (€74.90 online) is something of a luxury, and you could try some of the more bohemian solutions including: lengths of plastic guttering (every garage has an off cut and a couple of brackets), a cluster of tin cans grouped handsomely, a nylon shoe rack, or my favourite — a set of plastic bottles with a hatch cut from the side to create a sleek like grow bag.
For true vertical effects, you’ll need at least a 30 degree angle to offer the plant without slopping it out of its plug. PinInterest covers the many adventures possible with vintage picture frames and chicken wire, but keep in mind that good ragged moss is a vital barrier to keep soil from spilling down the wall.
Ebay offers planting bags and racks from around €8.25, something of a gamble on quality.
The Eho Corsica is a cluster of pots, an easy way in for the balcony or where kids want to have a go at herbs and climbers. €6.95 from many good garden centres.
With their enchanting, almost architectural beauty, in a host of glowing colours, succulents are trending inside and out for interiors and most markedly for wedding tables and even bridal bouquets.
Compact and easy to care for, even the determined house-plant-hater can be easily drawn to this elegant intruder.
Desert dwellers surviving in terrain from Morocco to Iran, succulents are a first choice in the craze for vertical planting and tough contenders for the absentminded, greenery lover.
If their leaves shrivel, they are crying out for water and can often be revived with a light watering once they receive enough sunshine.
Used as cut flower-like ornaments, set on the wall in frames or fashioned into jewellery rose-shapes, succulents will last 3-4 weeks and combine wonderfully with softer petals such as roses. Choose from emerald green to rich ruby colours and for staging, the leaves can even be sprayed in metallic shades.
The most common rooted species you’ll find at the garden centre are echeveria, crassula ovate, sempervivum and kalanchoe. Gemlike in rosettes of plump waxy leaves, succulents can be grown in pots, egg shells, planted in vertical panels, put under glass, placed around rockeries and even hung up as delicate ‘string gardens’ in balls of moss (kokedama videos are available on YouTube). Look for rare varieties of succulents to buy as seeds online e
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