Recycling a 100-year-old garden

Amersham

Recycling a 100-year-old garden

The owners of this 300-year-old home set in the beautiful countryside of Amersham needed some ideas to revamp the front terrace. This project would require careful consideration to construct something fitting with the historic surroundings.

Client Brief

The client called Karl in to advise on what could be done with their existing reclaimed York Stone terrace. This terrace wasn’t constructed incredibly well and over time became precarious, moss-covered and generally dangerous to walk on. The clients ultimately wanted to use this space to park up to 3 cars. reclaimed york stone paving before cleaning

Recycling and Re-Using Landscaping Materials

Considering all the different new material options. What was staring Karl in the face was all the existing natural York Stone. It makes good sense that when something isn’t broken… Let’s not fix it. As a result, Karl and the team lifted all the existing York Stone, gave the stone a good clean up. From here they constructed a new subbase – about 22 tons of concrete – and relayed the paving using flow point for the pointing. The flow point is a non-permeable mortar. Further, around the edges of this arrangement, Karl even found some reclaimed bricks in the old imperial sizes to help match the stocks used on the house.
Karl said – “Effectively what we have here is re, re-used, re-used and probably re-used again broken bits of York Stone in the style of crazy paving constructed in a modern technique. I think we have done something sympathetic to the property. The clients are properly happy with this, I think I’m happier.”

This is a garden, not a driveway

Once Karl and the team completed the works the clients quickly realised this space was too lovely to use as a driveway. They chose to move their dining furniture to this area and even added to the planting alongside the terrace. This is the space they come to spend their evenings when we get the right weather. In summary, you can achieve some fabulous finishes with reclaimed materials. They don’t have to be new. Using old materials in a different style, a different pattern and using modern techniques you can still achieve something that’s new and contemporary looking.

Credits and Further Information 

Location – Amersham Client – Private Completed – 2021 Materials – Recycled York Stone
Follow Karl Harrison Landscapes Ltd to get all the latest project updates and of course behind the scenes!
karl-photo-new

About Karl

Karl Harrison designs, builds and delivers high end residential and commercial landscaping projects.

He brings clarity to unusual situations, new materials and understands how to apply them with current technology. He is a professional Engineer and demands attention to detail that ensures impeccable results.

We absolutely love the space that Karl & his team created for us.

See how we can help you...

We adapt to the needs of every client, fluent in a combination of traditional techniques ensuring the hard landscaping works in harmony with the soft planting, garden art and style in your garden.

We hope you like what you see.

We’d love to meet you in your garden to see how we can turn your outdoor space into a work of art.