In this garden in the Baan Phu Thara estate in Hua Hin, the new owners had travelled the world and had decided to make the seaside town their main base. They bought the newly built house and had the interior modified to their taste, and the next job was to the garden.
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The original discussions were focused solely on a pond and sitting space close to their indoor terrace. The pond was to be in a modern style, tiled top edges and polished concrete on the inner sides.
The pond was to be natural, with natural filtration, so that it could comfortable keep a good number of koi, around 1m deep.
After discussions it was collectively decided to build a curved deck overhanging the edge of the pond, for easing viewing of the fish.
An exterior filter would be housed at the far end, hidden behind a waterspout feature that the team would build. The filter itself was Oase koi filter, with internal UV lamps, to help combat algae, but keep the fresh water natural. The pond also included air stones, great for overall aeration of the pond, and creating a lovely bubbling effect on the surface.
However like so many projects, the work scope would spiral up considerably! Once the team got to work and more ideas started to surface.
The main garden would be a colorful display of grass, pebbles and plants that the couple liked. A central pathway would be redesigned, to connect the entrance to the house, but other pathways were planned to connect the new areas of the garden.
New areas included a pool decking sitting area, beside the entrance and opposite to the house, plus a good-sized herb garden that would be located on the back corner, out of sight from the terrace but offering a lovely opportunity to create a unique section of the home.
A series of curved beds were planned around the main home and guest houses, filled with colorful plant varieties that the customers were fond of.
The banyan hedges that were provided in the home contract were short, around 1m in height, so we swapped those out for bushier, taller trees around 1.80m. This gives an immediate lush green backdrop to all sides of the house.
Throughout the project various samples had to be offered to match the taste of the client. These included granite top tiles for the pond sides, decking samples, plus large trees that were shipped in from Bangkok, with our team offering the customer pictures of the trees to select before purchase.
Lighting options were also provided, with modern style aluminum bollards in black being chosen to light up the garden in optimum locations.
Before the team started, the couple had acquired an attractive and expensive olive tree. This was integrated into the pool deck area, at the corner of the plot, with the team building in some composite tree seating into the decking.
An attractive natural stone planter was also constructed for several of the large trees, acting as attractive features between the pool deck, entrance and main terrace. The main large planter, close to the house, was the home of a large Corkwood tree, a tropical tree that is able to grow up to around 20m.
Other plants used in the new garden included sea teak trees, Japanese cypress, Balsam Apple, plus fruit and citrus trees across the landscape.
Finally, we designed a Zen style herb garden, complete with a range of different sized composite planters. Composite planters are preferred to real wood, as the composite material holds up much better to Thailand’s climate. We also line them with HDPE liner to project the inside timber and fill the bottoms with gravel before topping with soil to improve drainage inside. Two of the planters also had protective hardwood hoods built across them, these were custom made by Thai Garden Design.
A range of vegetables and herbs can be cultivated in these good-sized planters, and for added aesthetics, a steel archway was built as an entrance, with a mix of creeper vines planted at the foot of the arbor. The herb garden also had all grass removed, anti-weed fabric installed, and a light-colored pea gravel floor, which matches perfectly with the color of the planters.
The final result is that this is a fantastical colorful themed garden, built with a mix of plants and trees hand chosen by the customer, adapted and customized throughout the duration of the project. This project goes to illustrate that there’s no need to have a dull or uninspired garden in Thailand.. Anything is possible.
