There's good design... and then there's bad design...

And I believe that this one comes under the heading of "bad design"... *laughs*

When you have a large mature Lime tree overhanging your garden, don't plant an intricate Knot Garden with low Box hedging, surrounded by a lumpy bumpy crazy-paving style random stone path....

... because it will drive you crazy every year.

Unless you have a gardener, of course, in which case you just say to them "Oh, clear up the courtyard garden, would you?"

... whereupon they will spend hours patiently raking up the mess for you.

Hours.

And hours.

Week after week......

Year after year...... 

Barrowload, after barrow-load...

What would I have changed, had I been asked?  How would I have made this design "better", if I'd been here when it was first planned?

Well, I would not have gone for the lumpy bumpy path, that's for sure: if they wanted the rustic look, I would have suggested herringbone bricks or paviours.

And yes, you've all heard my diatribes on the sheer hell of herringbone block paviour drives... but I would rather have that, than the lumpy stone crazy-paving above, because you can't rake it, you can't sweep it, and the Lime seed pods get caught in all the deep, soil-filled crevices, and then take root.

(It's also a hellish trip hazard for the rest of the year, but that's only applicable if you have senior folks living there.) 

We even tried jet-washing it, one year, but that didn't work either:  the guy who was employed to do the work blasted so much soil out from between the lumpy bumpy stones that many of them became loose underfoot - thus worsening the trip hazard aspect. And, in point of fact, deepening the "ruts" between them, so even more of the Lime tree debris was caught in the crevices.

I would almost be tempted to put aside my "gardener" hat and say "tarmac the lot!" but no, that's a step too far in the direction of convenience.  But just plain shingle, as is present between the Box hedges, would have been easier to manage than lumpy bumpy stones.

The above courtyard garden is a good example of how what appears to be a "nice" design, or a "nice" idea, is inherently impractical, because whoever designed it did not consider the annual autumn leaf-fest which the Lime tree droppeth gently, from above.

As for the Box hedging, well, I have a soft spot for that, so I wouldn't advise against it: but I would, in this situation, suggest simplifying the design, by removing some of the inner hedges:  this would mean more space in between them, ie easier to rake. 

In fact, I would probably have specified that the gap between the hedges must be wide enough to accommodate the width of the rake!

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