An 18 by 14 metre plot with the house at the top and the ground falling one and a half metres towards the south boundary. It is dry, because the water runs downhill, and sunny. The owners have two questions: what to plant there, and whether level ground can be made without a building permit.
Idea 1 of 318 × 14 m
HouseLawn18 m14 mN4 m
Plot boundary
Building, existing
Seating area (no lawn or beds)
Lawn
Planting bed
Path
Plant at mature spread
Idea shown in full
Easy-care green
A garden that asks little: tough shrubs and grasses in simple borders around open space.
A sketch of the idea. Check the measurements on site before building.
The answers in this example
18 × 14 m
House
Full sun
Soil moisture: dry
Peace and quiet
Bees and butterflies
Style: natural
How much work: little
The plot is an example, made up to show the result. The plan, the plants and every figure on this page are what the Verdlo studio works out from these answers, the same as it will for you.
The plants, and why these
Every one of these:
Likes the sun this spot gets
Russian sageSalvia yangii× 10Flowers from July to September · Silver leaves · Takes a dry spell
Blue Arrow juniperJuniperus scopulorum 'Blue Arrow'× 37Flowers in April · Evergreen · Goes upwardsMildly harmful if eaten (children, dogs and cats).
English lavenderLavandula angustifolia× 8Flowers from June to August · May be hurt by a hard winter · EdibleMildly harmful if eaten (dogs and cats).
Blue fescue 'Elijah Blue'Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue'× 91Flowers in June · Silver leaves · Takes a dry spell
Moss phloxPhlox subulata× 4Flowers from April to May · Takes a dry spell
Woodland sageSalvia nemorosa× 3Flowers from May to July · Native to Europe
Show 3 species more
Fountain grass 'Hameln'Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln'× 8Flowers from August to September · Shape that holds through winter · Stays small
Creeping thymeThymus serpyllum× 15Flowers from June to August · Native to Europe · Edible
Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation'Allium hollandicum 'Purple Sensation'× 33Flowers from May to June · Goes upwards · Shape that holds through winterCaution: dogs and cats. Mildly harmful if eaten (children).
Poisonous if eaten: Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' (dogs and cats).
Underground pipes and cables cannot be seen from above: before digging, find out where they run from your local utility locating service or the utility companies.
Watering plan
In a dry summer week this garden needs about 3,278 l of water: 2,580 l for the lawn, and the beds every 7 days.
What it may cost
from 6,980 to 19,491 PLN
Estimated cost of plants and materials in Poland, without labour, delivery, paving, walls or edging.
Slope
The plan is drawn from above. How the 1.5 m fall becomes level ground is worked out by the studio's Slope layer:
Falls 1.5 m across 14 m
About 10.7% slope
Level 1: wall 0.75 m, flat ground 7 m deep
Level 2: wall 0.75 m, flat ground 7 m deep
36 m of wall in total
Every wall stays under 0.8 m, so no permit and no notification in Poland
A retaining wall needs drainage and a base behind it; that detail is what decides whether it lasts
Water must be able to get out from behind a wall, or the wall will eventually be pushed over.
Soil dug from the top fills the bottom, so little has to be carted away.
Steps between levels want to be shallow and wide outdoors, deeper than they feel indoors.
The cost range above does not include the walls: price the 36 m of retaining wall, with its drainage and footing, separately.
For your own plot the studio's Slope layer works out the levels and walls. It is part of the paid My garden project package at €24.99, bought once. See the prices
The other two ideas from the same answers
In the studio each of the three ideas comes with its full list of plants, watering and cost.
Flowers and bees
Deeper borders full of flowers the bees love, set among shrubs and grasses.
Plants
190 and 44 bulbs
Beds
6
Materials
from 7,701 to 20,617 PLN
Clean lines and calm
A clipped hedge and repeated planting: a garden that looks tidy all year.
Plants
134 and 26 bulbs
Beds
5
Materials
from 6,198 to 18,322 PLN
What this plan does not know
Your soil. The example assumes the soil from its answers, but it cannot know how acid or heavy yours is: a simple test kit from a garden centre tells you before you buy plants.
Pipes, cables and a septic tank under the ground. No plan can see them: mark them in the studio as ground to keep clear, and check where they run on your house's site plan before you dig.
Where your plot really ends. The sizes here are made up; yours come from the land register (type the parcel number into the studio), and only a surveyor marks them on the ground.
Plan a garden like this on your plot
The studio opens with these answers. Type in your plot's size and change whatever is different.
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