Before:
This rear garden was totally lacking structure, contained few plants and was
totally dominated by a large (but lovely) willow tree and also a neighbours
garage at the bottom of the garden. The clients, new to gardening but keen to
learn, wanted an unfussy garden that maintained the feeling of space and the
wish list included a large lawn area, space for vegetables and some fruit,
somewhere to sit at the end of the garden to enjoy the evening sun, hiding the
neighbours garage, brightly coloured plants and the possible inclusion of
additional land to the side of the garden at a later date.
Design Solution:
The design needed to be strong and in scale
with the large willow tree and the lawn area was reshaped using strong curves.
These were defined with a brick edge which doubles as a winter path to the
vegetable and compost area. The brick work links with the existing paving by the
house that could not be replaced at the time of the build but the terrace area
was extended to balance the large conservatory on the rear of the house. This
included a large brick step up onto the lawn which provided additional space for
plants in containers. Brick and stone paths were also used to define the
vegetable area which incorporated old brick walls and which when grown will be
sheltered by a beech hedge. A dark and dingy area at the side of the garden was
opened up with a pathway from the terrace to a seating circle which could lead
on to a new area of the garden in the future. Planting was generally low
maintenance and included a curved screening of black bamboos to hide the garage
wall and colour themed beds: pinks and silvers, yellows and whites and the more
experimental dark reds, magentas and oranges.
