A garden that rose from rubble
A garden we refused to buy ready-made.
Eleven steps of work. Plants only at step eight. Guests see calm — we know what sits beneath it.
A living garden
Not only a finished result. A place where life happens.
This 360° photo is personal — children, light, a yellow house and paths someone has just run along. Look around. This is exactly how we want the garden to feel when guests are in it.
Interactive 360° photo
Look around the garden
Drag with your mouse or finger — as if you were standing in the middle of the courtyard.
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Terraces and apartments
All five apartments have access to the garden — three via their own terrace, two directly to seating in the garden.
Shared terrace
Golden Balance
Shares the terrace with Evening Elegance, but each apartment has its own table and chairs. Access directly from the garden.
Shared terrace
Evening Elegance
Glazed doors to the garden, shared terrace with Golden Balance — privacy is held by the garden itself.
Private terrace · ~10 m²
Noble Contrast
The only private terrace in the house. Railings set into the posts so there is room left for luggage too.
Garden access
Gentle Harmony & Comfort in Muted Tones
No private terrace, but direct access to the garden and its seating — for example the chairs under the lime tree.
First impression
In the garden you find this: calm seating, greenery, paths, terraces and light.
That is the layer a guest senses at once — a finished place, not a technical project. You can sit, walk the garden, stay outside in the evening under soft light.
But that simplicity is here because beneath it sit eleven steps of work that are not visible at first glance. We describe them below — not as a step-by-step guide, but as proof that it can be done with your own hands.
How the garden was made
At first glance a flowerbed. In truth eleven steps of work — and plants are only the eighth.
Almost everything we did ourselves. The only thing we had designed was the planting plan by garden architect Vlasta Hábová — flowering time, gradual growth and a five-year outlook, not only this year. The rest was hand work, not a project.
First, it had to be cleared.
Before the first plant went into the ground, more than twenty tonnes of old rubble were carried out through the house — bucket by bucket. Unromantic, but that is where everything began. Without a clean plot, nothing else makes sense.
The only thing we had designed for us.
A planting plan by garden architect Vlasta Hábová — flowering times, gradual growth, and a five-year outlook, not just this season. A plan is cheaper than rebuilding a finished garden. Everything else was handwork.
Water first of all.
Right after the plan came water — three retention tanks linked to the roof downpipes, catching rain before it could run away. Leave water until the end and you dig up a finished garden. So it went into the ground as one of the first layers.
The paths had to be dug first.
Before anything could be planted, the future paths were marked out and excavated. That left several cubic metres of soil. The poorer part was shovelled into buckets by hand and carried through the house, corridors, and stairs out to the street — bucket by bucket into a wheelbarrow, then away to disposal.
Edging — and the soil back in place.
The smooth curve of the beds is held by metal strip edging — cut into bands, painted, bent by hand, and welded to rebar driven into the ground so the curve never wobbles. Into those forms went the better soil that remained. On top came a layer of brought-in humus and another layer of soil so the plants had something to grow in.
Paths again: gravel underfoot.
The paths themselves got two layers of gravel — first a coarser 16/32 fraction, then a finer “rice” gravel (4/8 mm). Both layers were compacted with a vibrating plate — locally nicknamed the frog.
Under the gravel lie white Covergrid Gravel honeycomb trays (80 × 112 × 3 cm) — laid into the same arcs as the paths, which on a curved layout was not quick work. The aim was a finished surface exactly 2 cm below the edging.
The terraces rose in parallel.
The terraces were built alongside everything else, but had to be finished before the edging so both parts would meet precisely. Which apartments they belong to, and how they work, is described further in Terraces and apartments.
Only then the plants.
Only on soil prepared like this — with water, form, and paths ready — did planting begin, plant by plant to the plan. Some things from the past stayed on purpose: by the back wall, the original roses, more than twenty years old.
Irrigation — only after planting.
Drip irrigation was laid only after planting — tubing run between plants already in the ground, not into empty soil.
Mulch as the last soil protection.
The last layer above the irrigation is mulch — a mix of bark and mature compost from Soběslav, fetched three times, loaded to overflowing. It holds moisture in the soil and suppresses weeds, so the garden needs less watering and less weeding.
The last layer: light.
The final step was soft evening lighting — gentle light on trunks, along paths, and by the seating, each with its own switch. Not to make the garden glare, but so it keeps its own character at night. Done.
The garden should feel natural, not complicated. What you see is only the result.
What grows — plant atlas
25 species, ordered by when to stop and look.
From the first blooms of early spring to those that give the garden structure even in winter. Each plant has a Latin name, piece count, and its role in the garden — not for decoration alone, but for anyone who might want to create a similar corner themselves.
Garden plan
The planting plan of the whole garden — so you can see what is where.
Late winter and spring
the garden’s first awakening
Witch hazel
Hamamelis × intermedia ‘Aphrodite’
Blooms in the quietest season — orange fringes on bare branches before anything else starts.
Lenten rose
Helleborus orientalis ‘Double Ellen Pink Spotted’
Double-flowered, blooms in late winter — the first colour after cold, often before the last snow melts.
Columbine
Aquilegia vulgaris, mix
Delicate spring flowers in a soft mix of colours. Brightens the bed before summer takes over.
Blue-eyed Mary
Omphalodes verna
Low spring groundcover with tiny blue flowers. Covers the soil until taller perennials fill in.
Fringe cups
Tellima grandiflora
Shade-tolerant underplanting with fine candelabras of small flowers. Softly fills the lower tier.
Summer · I
main flowering
Peony
Paeonia lactiflora ‘Duchesse de Nemours’
Full white fragrant blooms in early summer. Five plants as a deliberate, rarer accent.
Panicle hydrangea
Hydrangea paniculata ‘Early Sensation’
Early flowering. White panicles gradually turn pink and hold colour deep into summer.
Red valerian
Centranthus ruber ‘Albus’
White form, long-flowering and undemanding. Tolerates drought and stone.
Cranesbill
Geranium ‘Rozanne’
Blue-violet, blooms without pause from summer into autumn. A quiet workhorse of the beds.
Bloody cranesbill
Geranium sanguineum var. striatum
Low and softly pink. Holds the edges of the beds so nothing feels empty.
Summer · II
another summer layer
Daylily
Hemerocallis ‘Crimson Pirate’
Each red flower lasts a single day, but blooms in long waves — the bed stays colourful for weeks.
Culver’s root
Veronicastrum sibiricum ‘Amethyst’
Tall slender flower spikes in summer — giving the bed height and rhythm.
Historic roses
by the rear stone wall · existing
More than twenty years old, here before the whole project. The point was not to replace them, but to keep them — the garden was designed around them so they could stay.
Lady fern
Athyrium filix-femina
A fine fern for shady spots. Soft structure where perennials would not thrive.
Japanese forest grass
Hakonechloa macra ‘Albostriata’
Soft cascading grass that brightens shade and moves the bed even without wind.
Autumn
the year’s second peak
Japanese maple
Acer palmatum ‘Osakazuki’
The backbone of the planting. Calm green all summer, then a deep scarlet blaze in autumn. The rest of the beds are composed around it.
Japanese anemone
Anemone × hybrida ‘Andrea Atkinson’
White flowers on tall slender stems, blooming late — when most of the bed is already fading.
Aster
Aster ageratoides ‘Adustus Nanus’
Low and densely flowering. Part of the last wave of colour before winter.
Heath aster
Aster ericoides ‘Schneetanne’
Covered in tiny white flowers in late autumn.
Aster
Aster oblongifolius ‘October Skies’
Blue-violet, flowering — as the name suggests — into October.
Year-round structure
holds the garden beyond peak bloom
Viburnum
Viburnum ‘Pragense’
Evergreen backdrop that calms and closes the view — something for the rest of the bed to lean on.
Bergenia
Bergenia ‘Bach’
Leathery evergreen leaves hold structure all year; in spring they add a pink flower.
Lesser periwinkle
Vinca minor ‘Elisa’
The most numerous plant in the garden. An evergreen carpet that ties everything together.
Chinese silver grass
Miscanthus sinensis ‘Yakushima Dwarf’
A lower miscanthus. Gives the garden structure after perennials fade — and catches soft light in the evening.
Fountain grass
Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Hameln’
Soft cylindrical plumes that play in light and wind. Peaks in autumn.
The last layer
When it grows dark, the garden takes on a second form.
Soft evening lighting of trunks, paths and seating — each with its own switch. By day you mainly notice greenery and paths; in the evening the trees, terraces and a calm that is less present by day begin to work.
When you want more
This is not a step-by-step guide. More a proof that it can be done.
We deliberately did not write it as an exact procedure — every garden is different and every plot asks for something of its own. But if a layer interests you in more detail, we are happy to share it. Write to us with your question, or stop by during your stay — we will show how it is really put together.
Write to us: info@vivienapartments.cz Call: +420 702 153 573
Before you go further