I'm going to put up a 1.2m high by 7.5m long wall at the back of the
garden. I'm going to use regular-sized house brick for the face of the
wall. I've not chose the brick style yet.

I was thinking about putting brick lights in every so often.

Anyone any creative ideas so I don't end up with a boring wall? Thanks.

On 24/03/2011 10:40, Sacha wrote:
On 2011-03-24 10:32:11 +0000, Richard said:

I'm going to put up a 1.2m high by 7.5m long wall at the back of the
garden. I'm going to use regular-sized house brick for the face of the
wall. I've not chose the brick style yet.

I was thinking about putting brick lights in every so often.

Anyone any creative ideas so I don't end up with a boring wall? Thanks.

Crenellation? A change in the brick-laying pattern every so often?
Interesting coping stones? 5 or 6 course higher-than-the-rest 'tower'
here and there along the length?

Also, I guess you could argue that I should be arranging for climbing
plants to go in front of the wall.

In article , says...

On 24/03/2011 10:40, Sacha wrote:
On 2011-03-24 10:32:11 +0000, Richard said:

I'm going to put up a 1.2m high by 7.5m long wall at the back of the
garden. I'm going to use regular-sized house brick for the face of the
wall. I've not chose the brick style yet.

I was thinking about putting brick lights in every so often.

Anyone any creative ideas so I don't end up with a boring wall? Thanks.

Crenellation? A change in the brick-laying pattern every so often?
Interesting coping stones? 5 or 6 course higher-than-the-rest 'tower'
here and there along the length?

Also, I guess you could argue that I should be arranging for climbing
plants to go in front of the wall.

Are you aware of potential planning caveats and restrictions on a wall
that high?


http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/per...enceswallsgate
s/

Janet

On 24/03/2011 10:32, Richard wrote:
I'm going to put up a 1.2m high by 7.5m long wall at the back of the
garden. I'm going to use regular-sized house brick for the face of the
wall. I've not chose the brick style yet.

I was thinking about putting brick lights in every so often.

Anyone any creative ideas so I don't end up with a boring wall? Thanks.
What thickness is the wall? Are you including piers at regular intervals
(slenderness ratio ?)
If your wall is thick enough you could have arched niches? perhaps with
a soldier course at the base?
Just a few obs.
Don

On 24/03/2011 10:32, Richard wrote:
I'm going to put up a 1.2m high by 7.5m long wall at the back of the
garden. I'm going to use regular-sized house brick for the face of the
wall. I've not chose the brick style yet.

I was thinking about putting brick lights in every so often.

Anyone any creative ideas so I don't end up with a boring wall? Thanks.


It depends how you want to use that area of the garden, but you may wish
to consider building a raised pond area in front of the wall with wide
copingstones which could be used as a sitting area. If so, you would
need to build in the appropriate plumbing and wiring/solar panel for,
say, a wall fountain, which would introduce sound into the garden.

If you just want a wall, more or less, look out for interesting
terracotta tiles or paving with an interesting pattern or raised
ornamentation. Bricks lights, as you say, may be good or you could
replace an entire brick course with those chunky glass bricks. A lot
depends on the style of your house and garden.



--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay

On 24/03/2011 12:15, Janet wrote:
In , says...

On 24/03/2011 10:40, Sacha wrote:
On 2011-03-24 10:32:11 +0000, said:

I'm going to put up a 1.2m high by 7.5m long wall at the back of the
garden. I'm going to use regular-sized house brick for the face of the
wall. I've not chose the brick style yet.

I was thinking about putting brick lights in every so often.

Anyone any creative ideas so I don't end up with a boring wall? Thanks.

Crenellation? A change in the brick-laying pattern every so often?
Interesting coping stones? 5 or 6 course higher-than-the-rest 'tower'
here and there along the length?

Also, I guess you could argue that I should be arranging for climbing
plants to go in front of the wall.

Are you aware of potential planning caveats and restrictions on a wall
that high?


http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/per...enceswallsgate
s/

Janet

Over one metre high requires permission if it adjoins a public highway I
think, though our bricklayer wasn't aware of that.

Richard wrote in :

I'm going to put up a 1.2m high by 7.5m long wall at the back of the
garden. I'm going to use regular-sized house brick for the face of the
wall. I've not chose the brick style yet.

I was thinking about putting brick lights in every so often.

Anyone any creative ideas so I don't end up with a boring wall? Thanks.

IMO, and as someone who has experience with fashions/fads within the
building/construction industry, it is always better to go with classic
architecture. A solid brick wall with the same course and brick type will
always look good.

Baz

In article ,
says...

On 24/03/2011 12:15, Janet wrote:
In , says...

On 24/03/2011 10:40, Sacha wrote:
On 2011-03-24 10:32:11 +0000, said:

I'm going to put up a 1.2m high by 7.5m long wall at the back of the
garden. I'm going to use regular-sized house brick for the face of the
wall. I've not chose the brick style yet.

I was thinking about putting brick lights in every so often.

Anyone any creative ideas so I don't end up with a boring wall? Thanks.

Crenellation? A change in the brick-laying pattern every so often?
Interesting coping stones? 5 or 6 course higher-than-the-rest 'tower'
here and there along the length?

Also, I guess you could argue that I should be arranging for climbing
plants to go in front of the wall.

Are you aware of potential planning caveats and restrictions on a wall
that high?


http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/per...enceswallsgate
s/

Janet

Over one metre high requires permission if it adjoins a public highway I
think, though our bricklayer wasn't aware of that.

It would be annoying to spend as much time effort and money as R's plan
entails; then have to take it all down again on safety grounds etc.

Janet.

"Richard" wrote in message
...
I'm going to put up a 1.2m high by 7.5m long wall at the back of the
garden. I'm going to use regular-sized house brick for the face of the
wall. I've not chose the brick style yet.

I was thinking about putting brick lights in every so often.

Anyone any creative ideas so I don't end up with a boring wall? Thanks.

How about ....

http://www.myalbum.com/Album=4HVWX4UN ? (Bit of an excess water problem.
Look at the wall :-))

Mike


--

....................................
Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive
....................................

On Mar 24, 11:58*am, Richard wrote:
On 24/03/2011 10:40, Sacha wrote:

On 2011-03-24 10:32:11 +0000, Richard said:

I'm going to put up a 1.2m high by 7.5m long wall at the back of the
garden. I'm going to use regular-sized house brick for the face of the
wall. I've not chose the brick style yet.

I was thinking about putting brick lights in every so often.

Anyone any creative ideas so I don't end up with a boring wall? Thanks..

Crenellation? A change in the brick-laying pattern every so often?
Interesting coping stones? 5 or 6 course higher-than-the-rest 'tower'
here and there along the length?

Also, I guess you could argue that I should be arranging for climbing
plants to go in front of the wall.

Of course we would - we're gardeners. Lots of plants, over the wall,
in front of the wall, forget the fancy work just plant it so you don't
see the wall when everything is growing.

Rod

"Richard" wrote in message
...
I'm going to put up a 1.2m high by 7.5m long wall at the back of the
garden. I'm going to use regular-sized house brick for the face of the
wall. I've not chose the brick style yet.

I was thinking about putting brick lights in every so often.

Anyone any creative ideas so I don't end up with a boring wall? Thanks.

Paint. Could be anything from different blocks of colour to finding a
local artist to create a mural. Someone round here (admittedly in a
bricked up house window) has had a trompe l'oeil on the outside on the wall
showing a garden (but you're looking at the house from the outside).

Mirror.

On 24/03/2011 13:36, Donwill wrote:
On 24/03/2011 10:32, Richard wrote:
I'm going to put up a 1.2m high by 7.5m long wall at the back of the
garden. I'm going to use regular-sized house brick for the face of the
wall. I've not chose the brick style yet.

I was thinking about putting brick lights in every so often.

Anyone any creative ideas so I don't end up with a boring wall? Thanks.
What thickness is the wall? Are you including piers at regular intervals
(slenderness ratio ?)
If your wall is thick enough you could have arched niches? perhaps with
a soldier course at the base?
Just a few obs.
Don

It's a retaining wall and I will get my builder brother-in-law to build
it. It will be two walls actually, a back wall and a front facing wall.
I can fill in the gap or not I suppose.

When I give it some consideration, I now see that I should use the wall
as a prop for plants. I was'nt thinking that at first. I'll make a
straight wall, I think that's probably best, but figure out how this
wall can be decorated by plants. I could also have plants on the top of
the wall, but perhaps this can be done with plant boxes.

I think the general idea is to put up some kind of fencing or netting on
the wall.

QUESTION: What is available these days at allows a wall to be
"decorated" by plant-life?

The top soil at my place is only about 5 inch deep before it turns to
sandy stony soil. What I need to do is ensure that I've got a good soil
situation near the wall. Away from the wall, I will lay turf and lay a
lawn. I don't expect the soil under turf needs to be that deep.

QUESTION: If I lay turf down, how shallow can the good top soil be below it?

QUESTION: I'm not sure how deep I should make the good soil adjacent to
the wall, nor how far from the wall that depth should extend.

How much good soil I have for the border of the lawn will depend on how
shallow I could make the good soil below the lawn.

I need to figure out my what plants to use. In winter, the wall gets no
direct sunlight, because my house blocks the light. It's sometime in
March when direct sunlight begins to hit the wall area.

Baz wrote:

IMO, and as someone who has experience with fashions/fads within the
building/construction industry, it is always better to go with classic
architecture. A solid brick wall with the same course and brick type will
always look good.

Which reminds me to comment on this recently built front garden
wall which seems quite out of scale for its position:

http://tinyurl.com/63q5nq3

Clearly built as a planter, though even now not much "softened by
the planting". It reminds me of the sort of thing that would be
constructed to deflect car-bombers outside embassies.

The property to the left has a cottage-garden feel, and always
has something of interest to see.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

If it's a double wall with room for a bit of soil in between, you can plant ino that. Lots of walls round my way are done like that - it seems to be almost standard. Mine is south facing, so it is full of herbs, rock roses and aubretia. Since you are getting the sun in the summer when it matters, you could possibly do something similar.

I think you're right to go for plants rather than decorating the wall itself - it allows you more flexibility. IF the decoration is in the wall, than you can't ever change it if your tastes change (as all our tastes do, no matter how much we like to believe they won't).

If you're growing creeping things to trail down the wall, you'll get away with 5 inches of good soil.

Make sure you have a mowing strip between lawn and wall - you can mow right up to a wall, so you end up having to do the last couple of inches with shears, which'll take as long as mowing all the rest!

If you have a bed for planting at the base of the wall, then you don't need a mowing strip, but it is hand to have some sort of barrier to stop lawn grass growing into the bed - makes weeding a lot less troublesome. I have a 6inch strip of york stone all around my lawn - if I run one wheel of the mower along it, the cutter extends right to the edge of the grass.

In article ,
says...

Baz wrote:

IMO, and as someone who has experience with fashions/fads within the
building/construction industry, it is always better to go with classic
architecture. A solid brick wall with the same course and brick type will
always look good.

Which reminds me to comment on this recently built front garden
wall which seems quite out of scale for its position:

http://tinyurl.com/63q5nq3

Clearly built as a planter, though even now not much "softened by
the planting". It reminds me of the sort of thing that would be
constructed to deflect car-bombers outside embassies.

The property to the left has a cottage-garden feel, and always
has something of interest to see.

the property to the left also demonstrates how much better bricks look
when partially covered by plants :-)

Janet