Beautifying a concrete garage

A concrete garage can look great in a garden: the trick is softening its straight lines. Trellis and climbing plants, hanging baskets, bird boxes, outdoor lights and well-placed potted plants all help the building settle into its surroundings, and for a bigger transformation you can render or paint it to match the house.

Work with the garden rather than against the building. A concrete garage is all clean, hard lines, so anything that breaks those lines up makes it friendlier:

• Fix trellis to the walls and grow climbers up it: in a season or two the building becomes a backdrop. • Hang baskets by the door and run pots along the base of the walls for colour at the edges. • Add a bird box or two and some outdoor lighting: small touches that make it feel like part of the garden, not a unit dropped into it.

None of this costs much, and it can be done gradually. Customers have been dressing our buildings this way for as long as we've been supplying them, and the before-and-after difference is remarkable.

If planting isn't enough, the walls themselves can change. Exterior masonry paint is the quick option; rendering is the full transformation, giving the garage a finish that matches a rendered house and adding weather protection at the same time. Through-coloured polymer renders don't even need repainting afterwards.

Yes. A little consideration up front saves friction later. Before your garage is installed, think about how it will look from next door as well as from your own windows, keep a sensible distance from neighbouring windows and doors, and let neighbours know your plans. It also helps to look at what's already accepted in your area.

Most sectional buildings don't need planning consent, but rules vary by property and area, so a quick word with your local planning office is always worthwhile if you're unsure.

In short: a concrete garage looks good in a garden once its straight lines are softened, and most of what works costs very little and can be done gradually. Fix trellis to the walls and grow climbers up the trellis rather than the panels, so the plants stay manageable and the building stays easy to maintain; hang baskets by the door, run potted plants along the base of the walls, and add outdoor lighting and a bird box or two. Within a season or two the garage reads as a backdrop rather than a unit dropped into the garden. Where planting isn't enough, the walls themselves can change: exterior masonry paint is the quick route, and rendering is the full transformation, matching a rendered house and adding weather protection, with through-coloured polymer renders needing no repainting afterwards. It is worth thinking about the view from next door before installation as well as your own, keeping a sensible distance from neighbouring windows and doors, and telling neighbours your plans. Nucrete has manufactured concrete garages at its own factory in Bradford for over 45 years and supplies brick-effect fronts and uPVC fascias for owners who want the building to match the house from day one.