What Can I Do With an Unloved Side Return?
Is the slice of land at the side of your house nothing but a drab corridor? It doesn’t need to be…
Never let it be said we don’t listen to you all. In a recent story about how to maximise your ground floor when you don’t have a side-return extension, one Houzz user commented that it would also be great to know what to do with the strip of often-overlooked garden outside. Check out this mix of stylish and practical designs to give you ideas for transforming this narrow and often tricksy area.
Transform the floor into a feature
Another way to slow down your journey through this slim space and make it a pleasant experience is to consider the details as you would those in the main garden. Flooring, for instance, is often neglected in side returns.
Here, not only is this lush walkway by Visionscapes NW Landscape Design fringed with ferns and evergreen foliage, it also has green ‘stepping stones’ embedded into pale grey gravel, visually slowing your journey through the space.
These verdant inlaid circles are made from metal rings surrounded by black pebbles and filled with low-growing hardy species – dwarf mondo grass, Veronica repens ‘Sunshine’, and Corsican mint (Mentha requienii).
Another way to slow down your journey through this slim space and make it a pleasant experience is to consider the details as you would those in the main garden. Flooring, for instance, is often neglected in side returns.
Here, not only is this lush walkway by Visionscapes NW Landscape Design fringed with ferns and evergreen foliage, it also has green ‘stepping stones’ embedded into pale grey gravel, visually slowing your journey through the space.
These verdant inlaid circles are made from metal rings surrounded by black pebbles and filled with low-growing hardy species – dwarf mondo grass, Veronica repens ‘Sunshine’, and Corsican mint (Mentha requienii).
If you’re not keen on gravel, try paving your side return and simply leaving out some flags so you can plant low-growing greenery. In this project by Claire Moreno Garden Design, the plants are to the side, but you could equally leave pockets along the centre and fill them with something like chamomile or creeping thyme that will release a lovely scent whenever you step on them.
Create a shady seating spot
Sunny gardens are a delight, but sometimes it’s nice to seek out a little shade. Slotting seating and some greenery into your side return will create a secondary relaxing area – an escape from the midday rays and general hubbub.
You may be able to fit in a planter, as in this design by Sprout Up, and even a couple of chairs, but if your space is skinny, opt for a bench and a living wall system for a place to relax that takes up very little room.
Sunny gardens are a delight, but sometimes it’s nice to seek out a little shade. Slotting seating and some greenery into your side return will create a secondary relaxing area – an escape from the midday rays and general hubbub.
You may be able to fit in a planter, as in this design by Sprout Up, and even a couple of chairs, but if your space is skinny, opt for a bench and a living wall system for a place to relax that takes up very little room.
Use it for a verdant vista
Planting dense foliage, or even growing a green wall in your side return, can enhance your interior as well as the experience of walking through the outside space (for the latter, consider plants with a strong, long-lasting scent).
You may not have a splashback window like this one, designed by Kalka, through which to enjoy your green view, but many old houses have a window in this wall. If you’re renovating, it might be worth looking into expanding this opening into something like this, or into an oriel window with seating if it’s a dining spot.
Planting dense foliage, or even growing a green wall in your side return, can enhance your interior as well as the experience of walking through the outside space (for the latter, consider plants with a strong, long-lasting scent).
You may not have a splashback window like this one, designed by Kalka, through which to enjoy your green view, but many old houses have a window in this wall. If you’re renovating, it might be worth looking into expanding this opening into something like this, or into an oriel window with seating if it’s a dining spot.
Exploit it for storage
If you’re short of storage, this area can also prove a good spot to slot some in. This covered bike store, created by PLT Design, is a good example.
Painted black, the structure partially conceals the cycles, which merge into the backdrop. On top, there’s a green roof filled with shade-loving plants, which will grow to dangle over the edges when they mature.
Find the perfect professional for your project in the Houzz Professionals Directory.
If you’re short of storage, this area can also prove a good spot to slot some in. This covered bike store, created by PLT Design, is a good example.
Painted black, the structure partially conceals the cycles, which merge into the backdrop. On top, there’s a green roof filled with shade-loving plants, which will grow to dangle over the edges when they mature.
Find the perfect professional for your project in the Houzz Professionals Directory.
Steal space to improve indoors
This side return is all about what it gives to the interior of the house. Architects Martins Camisuli designed the extension and incorporated a large oriel window, which protrudes into the side return to create a bench seat on the inside.
In time, climbing plants and attractive greenery will fill the planters, giving the dining area a wonderful close-to-nature feel.
Tell us…
Do you have a side return? What have you done with it – or which of these ideas would you consider trying? Let us know in the Comments.
This side return is all about what it gives to the interior of the house. Architects Martins Camisuli designed the extension and incorporated a large oriel window, which protrudes into the side return to create a bench seat on the inside.
In time, climbing plants and attractive greenery will fill the planters, giving the dining area a wonderful close-to-nature feel.
Tell us…
Do you have a side return? What have you done with it – or which of these ideas would you consider trying? Let us know in the Comments.
Because a side return is away from the main garden, you may want to give it some function – perhaps something you don’t have room for elsewhere.
A shallow potting bench is pretty much the perfect piece of furniture to fit comfortably into this area, while still leaving enough room to stand and tinker with plants as well as to pass by. With care, it can also look lovely, too.
Levell Design painted this classic potting bench black and surrounded it with cascading plants. Stored items are tucked below eye-level on the bottom shelf and semi-concealed by more foliage.