This rough plan from February 2003 shows the basic elements of the Main Courtyard, between the house and the underground wine cellar. It is not to scale and it would be ideal to have more professionally rendered plans as we move ahead.
In the centre of The Main Courtyard is a circular pond, surrounded by an octagonal grassy area, raised above the white crushed limestone surface of the courtyard. This octagon and circular pond, the unifying feature of the entire design, was suggested by a well-known courtyard garden in Lucca, built by the Controni Pfanner family in the nineteenth century. The Lucca courtyard is further softened by citrus in terracotta tubs and tightly clipped greenery.
The north-western side of the courtyard is formed by "The Moat" with access to The Hill Garden and The Top Terrace via a bridge. The north-eastern side is formed by "The Outdoor Kitchen", with access to The Hill Garden and The Wisteria Walk through a Cook House featuring The Mudgee Bush Oven.
A place where the very large rainwater tank could go is on the Western Terrace, behind the The Shadehouse
ReplyDeleteThis is good because
1. It avoids having to pump up to a high storage tank intended to provide a gravity feed back to the house which would be problematic for a number of reasons;
2. It is very easy to install needing only a quick leveling out or at most a very minor excavation
3. It is close enough to the house to check levels regularly etc
4. It will fit into the design of that area very nicely if we think it through carefully and do future plantings with it in mind; BUT this means that a decision would need to be made sooner rather than later and then not changed at a later date;
It is bad because
1. it doesn't give a gravity feed back to the house, but this can sorted out by pumping to a smaller tank up in the above The Hill Garden area; this is very high, giving excellent head of pressure for a gravity feed, but not a huge distance to pump to ; the pump can therefore be a less expensive type
Summing up : there are four reasons this is good, one reason it is bad. And the one reason that it is bad leads to a better and less expensive pumping solution anyway