Designing Composite Decking on a Budget

Designing Decking on a Budget

The best way to create a garden on budget is to get a professional to design it. Once you have had a garden design and materials specified you will know exactly what you’re getting and exactly what that will cost you.

This particular garden, like most, had a client budget. We prefer to call this the ‘Investment’. If you remember when you last went on a budget holiday… have a Michelin star dinning experience or get chauffeured in a Rolls Royce… didn’t think so. An investment is something that adds value to you, your property and enhances your well being. You will be looking at your garden almost everyday, you’ll be in it too with friends. So if you would consider your investment an addition that will outlive your new car then consider what you wish for wisely.

The client brief

From an initial site survey, Karl gathered accurate measurements and discussed the client brief.

“Could you give it a complete renovation please…? I’d like lots of colourful plants, some raised planters and a new deck please, a lawn and some planters… “

This was interpreted as removing everything in the garden with the exception of the fence. Use the existing paved area as a sub-base for the paths and the raised planters. The existing decking platform was to be made much bigger for use as a dinning area. Planting took over the remainder of the brief, so much so the lawn disappeared.

The decking materials

We used Millboard decking due to its colour working with the overall scheme and paired with a bespoke Accoya balustrade. Good quality materials in their own right and both come with extreme warranties. For the balustrade, we painted the Accoya with Owatrol solid colour stain and combined this with stainless cables from Sta-Lok. This gave the clients a contemporary space to watch their new beautiful planting come to life. This platform also gave them a superb viewing platform to enjoy the sun setting over the Chiltern Hills.

Bespoke Decking Balustrade Panels

This garden is perched on a hill and the clients could be seen by the neighbours when on the deck. We found a simple and effective solution… bespoke garden panels. These were made from steel and then powder coated. These make a perfect dappled screen from viewing eyes and work well with the decking balustrade.

Client feedback

The clients feedback was “Karl is a professional. Courteous, skilled, experienced, enthusiastic, energetic, and listens to his customers. We hired Karl and his team to completely landscape our back garden. It was a boring but blank canvas. Karl immediately had ideas and shared thoughts and listened to our ideas and thoughts too. Karl and his team worked hard in all weathers, to create a beautiful garden for us. Somewhere we want to sit and spend time and enjoy the lovely thing Karl and his team have created for us. Karl and his team go above and beyond. I would highly recommend Karl and his team to create some magical for you, and to do it really well.”