Walls
A walled garden is romantic, private, and creates a warm microclimate that allows a wider range of plants to be grown.
*Stone walls can be pricey, but, when constructed well, last a long time; they also weather beautifully. Reclaimed stone is often characterful, while local new stone blends in well to your area and is more sustainable: for instance, Sussex flint or Cornish granite. Portholes could be built in to frame views in the distance, if you have them. To reduce costs, bricks or concrete blocks can be clad with a stone veneer.
*Dry-stone walls are an excellent choice, being wildlife friendly and having a more natural look, which suits the contemporary garden. They can be built with varying degrees of spacing between the stones, which should be discussed with your waller; for instance, occasional wider gaps (in the style of a field wall) could be left for birds to nest in and – at the base – for hedgehogs to amble through; but even slim gaps will provide habitat for insects and lizards, as well as filtering wind and sound. If you have children who may climb on the wall, it’s worth adding at least some areas of mortar to the wall to secure it, especially on the top.
*Brick walls are usually much cheaper than stone; select well-fired bricks to prevent damp, and choose a vernacular brick colour so the garden blends well into your surrounds. Glass bricks are another option to let light flood in.
*Concrete walls – usually constructed from concrete blocks, then rendered and painted – are cheap and strong and could contain glass bricks or panels to brighten the garden. Concrete walls are an excellent way to add colour to an outdoor space, with one of the most striking examples being the pink fair-faced concrete walls of Mexican architect Luis Barragán. Their downside is they will need repainting every few years and don’t allow wildlife access, unless you ask your builders to create a hole at the bottom.
*Gabion baskets can be less expensive than many wall options and filter wind well. There’s also the advantage of being able to put rubble from building work into them, perhaps disguised with more attractive stone or pebbles on the surface or with Sedum to create a green wall.
*Prevent problems to ensure a wall’s longevity and to protect the house, if it abuts it. Various damp-proofing materials could be installed under and atop the wall to guard against damp. Because the wind can’t move through solid walls, they require strengthening at intervals – for example, via piers or internal reinforcement. And expansion joints allow for movement (rather than cracking) when temperatures fluctuate.
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