A compact courtyard back garden, the brief from the client was a garden that had space to entertain but also had a depth of planting. We also needed to incorporate a way of hiding a garage door and the end wall to give the garden a sense of depth and space. Materials were kept to a minimum so as not too confuse the design, pale sandstone paving was chosen to add contrast to the property. Slabs were then cut to create a small central feature; paving was then laid in a random pattern off of this. Cobbles were then inset to create both an edge but also as a feature through the paving.
Bespoke handmade Iroko trellis work was then erected this was designed to rise and fall along the curve of the border to draw you into the garden and away from the back walls. A subtle lighting design picks out key features that lead the eye through the garden.
The brief was to alter the use and look at an unused boulles court and a dominant overgrown bank. The view from the kitchen window was of the overgrown bank which made the house feel separate from the garden. Using a locally quarried Cotswold stone for both its colour and hardiness the bank was terraced. This gave three distinct levels and made house feel part of the garden. The first level will consist of scented shrubs and herbaceous planting; the second level will consist of a very simple planting design of box ball topiary inter-planted with lavender. The third level leads to the unused boulles court where a large raised usable lawn area has been created.
Also as part of this project I reviewed and redesigned the whole lighting system thus accentuating the key elements of the garden.
An unused and unsightly north-facing swimming pool was either in need of a redesign or was to be filled in as it had not been used for 15 years. We decided to go with a contemporary design consisting of bespoke Brazilian slate which had been worked by a local stone mason. This was laid around the pool and also on the new large formal steps that lead from the swimming pool to a large formal lawn. To compliment the slate new black and grey Italian ceramics were laid in the swimming pool itself. Raised borders were built and were planted with bamboos and white flowering shrubs to soften the space. A feature has subsequently been added to accentuate the contemporary feel of the garden.
This part of large barn garden was once used only for parking. After the client had renovated some out buildings into an annex and office we decided that the outlook needed to be softened. We built stone walls to create a walled in courtyard garden laid out with lawns and deep borders filled with shrubs, roses, herbaceous planting and a mix choice of climbers to clothe the new walls. The courtyard is accessed through a bespoke gate designed by myself and commissioned to a local forge. Parking was still required occasionally so reclaimed cobbles were laid randomly allowing grass and moss to infill the gaps given the illusion that they are an original feature.
This front garden was designed to lead from the dominant front façade of this country property out to the mown parkland.
The design is centred on a large formal pond with a cobbled paved area and narrow borders to allow the planting to reflect into the pond, there are then four larger borders planted as a parterre garden with roses and clipped trees and topiary, these borders have a large formal yew hedge on the north side of the scheme separating it from a large herbaceous border and lawn and a stone wall to the south side which comprises a large greenhouse.
Beyond the formal layout of the pond and borders there is a large area laid out with Narcissi in the spring which is allowed to grow into a wild flower meadow through the summer months this eases the transition from the garden to mown parkland.