The finished #cinema - very proud of this one, and the client was exceptionally happy. Lovely bit of #nautical styling and a cheeky #jasmine ready to climb up the posts. #outdoor #outdoorcinema #toriicinema #custom #bespoke #handmade https://www.instagram.com/p/BJbsRQQAzpM/?igshid=dckxpa8038sk

Stay tuned...

New project in the works - and I think you’ll like it..!

So, this is the brand new home-cinema packages we’re offering via our sister company ‘The Torii Cinema Co.’

The Torii Cinema Co. specialise in designing, manufacturing and installing bespoke outdoor cinema buildings for those who would love an authentic and exclusive home-cinema which doesn't intrude on existing living spaces or upset the status quo of your household.

Whether you lack the space (or authority!) for converting a whole room inside, or just want your very own unique cinema, our sanctuaries will provide you with the perfect retreat for watching your favourite films and series or for gaming in an entirely new and immersive way.

Head on over to the website (www.toriicinemas.com) which will be live shortly.

Uh oh - Torii Gardens has been at it again..! And the Hobbit Hole has GONE!

You may wonder why - and it’s because it was time for something new. The Hobbit Hole was quite small and I want to create another with at least 4 times the interior size and split compartments.

So in its place what do we have?

A complete subterranean fully furnished Hobbit Hole inspired and stylised by fantasy lore.

Specifications:

Designed & built by Torii Gardens of Bedfordshire

Finished product - plenty of healthy homegrown vegetable eaten this year and with minimal loss to pests (including the fluffy two who like to dig seedlings..!)

The extensive yoga and jujitsu training helps get into the tightest of gaps - anything to stop us having staples on the visible section of the cage!

Here's the first stage of the vegetable cage - it's actually pre-bench as you can see from the pics.

I used large met posts and nice chunky 75x75 timber posts for the main struts to keep it sturdy and durable - and some slightly thinner timber to pad out the gaps and cover the roof.

The lower diagonal strut on the door should ideally be the other way around to stop the door drooping on the non-hinged side - but the weight is quite low and I preferred the look of doing it this way.

I went with a 13mm hex mesh to help keep out butterflies and pests but to allow bees and other small pollinators to get through - so far it seems to have worked nicely!

The potting shelf is extremely study - happily took the weight of 3 large grow bags overnight.

Here's a nice hexagonal timber pot I made from some cheap batons - I just cut a load to an appropriate length and with 30deg angled cuts. They're bolted through the bottom side to ensure they stay invisible and are sunken in to further avoid rust and weathering.

I decided against wax on this and soaked the whole thing in a vat of standard wood preserve instead - a bit easier and I wanted this finish as it was going right next to the bench.

I wanted to put a nice fragrant Jasmine in this pot so that a light breeze would carry the scent to those sat at the bench, so I built in plenty of drainage as they like this.

I think they sell similar pots to this at Homebase - but the quality & finish is terrible and the price, as always for them, is astronomically marked up.

When you can make something much better in the time it would take to get one from the shops at a fraction of the price and with far more durability, I know what I'd prefer.

Right - cage coming up next I think!

The finished product weathered in very nicely!

A nice thick layer of bark chips down and a decent helping of bedding plants chosen for their colour and trailing spread really sets the whole area off - and provides a touch more attraction for the pollinating magicians.

I've got a few finishing touches to apply including a concealed iPod dock (to put out a bit of Mike Oldfield as I relax!) and possibly some arm rests for the ends. Need somewhere for drinks as well - definitely a priority for when summer comes around again.

Added a nice little Paddington Station clock to the mix onto the cage as well.

For this project, we were looking for the best way to utilise the space on the raised section - in order to get maximum seating and in a great social arrangement an irregular half octagonal shaped seemed like a good pitch!

The method we took was to fabricate seven identical struts from some nice smooth sturdy wood which would then have the seat and back rest timber fixed to it.

To ensure comfort both the seat base and backrests are in an nice ergonomically reclined position - and it worked very well. It took a lot more effort to get the angles right but totally worth it.

All the timber was well spaced out and a small space was incorporated along the back base to ensure rain water drains away - but after a very generous coating of bri-wax - rain tends to just bead straight off.

Large coach bolts were used for both strength and aesthetics on the ends and throughout - and they look great against the fully timber construction. I also went through the effort of installing solar powered LEDs across the entire front so when it gets dark, guests always get a nice surprise.

You'll notice in the picture with Sensei Alec a teapot and MP3 player: this is because when we work we like to have authentic Japanese green tea on tap with the soothing sounds of ambient music in the background. Such a peaceful atmosphere gets imbued directly into everything we build somehow!

Time to create the custom built bench for the sun-trap. This corner gets the very last of the evening sun, so it needs a well shaped bench to allow for sun-soaking and shade.

With a solid base, it's time to get building!

Planting into the borders - pansies, saxifrages (good for attracting bees), etc

This is the arch I made from scratch to separate the bottom of the garden from the lawn. It only took a morning of work and not much timber although I did cheat by using pre-made trellis panels in the sides.

It's very sturdy and waxed using the one and only Bri-wax - certainly one of the best ways of treating wood and it can be reapplied at later intervals to give it a nice clean look. I went for fast growing clematis either side with different flower colours so when they intertwine there should be a nice effect. They've established very well now and look great - even more so that the bottom picture.

The top picture shows more of the segregation using the log-rolls and some reused shrubbery from around the garden. I've noticed that with some good fertiliser and aggressive pruning, these plants came up really well in their new places with plenty of new growth on them.

So, here's the area with a little more finishing to it. I covered the raised section with pea shingle as this supposedly acts as a snail and slug deterrent for the obvious texture reason - but also because I like the look and think it's much cleaner than having earth, grass or bark up there. The slab in the middle is marked out for what was going to be a bird-bath or other small feature.

The decorative log roll borders worked out at £3 each from Wilkinsons - an absolutely bargain although not a typical source for garden supplies - so they feature a lot. All they needed was a few decent coats of preservative on them and they should be pretty well future-proofed.

The log roll sections were dug deeper than the lawn level, filled with some decent compost and fertiliser, waterproof lined to protect the back wood further and covering with bark chips - that way when it came to planting there, I'd have a decent base to work with rather than 3 inches of soil.

I wasn't happy with the quality of this so rebuilt it completely using much better timber and trimming it off to look much nicer (and to allow trailing plants to crawl across it much easier). I worked a 6" gap along the back fence to keep the pressure off and filled it with pea shingle to allow drainage. I'm pretty please with this area up here now and the finished project (the custom bench) really sets it off - images should be up soon for that.

I ended up with a lot of spare earth from building the Hobbit Hole in the Garden and needed a way to get rid of it. Rather than paying for it to be removed or otherwise expending unnecessary energy, I thought I'd raise up the planting area to separate it from the garden and make more of a feature out of it.

I also managed to build up a whole other raised section where the shed used to be - I don't have many pictures of the process here - or even a single photo of what this area used to look like - but prior to the fir trees coming down it was just an overgrown area where I'd dump things.