view next case study

The brief

The basic brief for this garden was to unify the space and make it more accessible.

This garden belongs to a family with a small dog and kids who are old enough to not need a garden to play in. As the house was on a newly built estate, there were a number of unwanted views in and out of the garden that needed screening.  My clients had seen a deck that seemed to 'float' over the flower border in another garden and hoped that I could incorporate that into their garden.

Along similar lines they liked the idea of using sleepers for raised beds, to bring planting up to eye level when viewed from inside the conservatory. They were not keen to have more paving as that would make the garden too sterile, but they didn't want to keep the grass. A new pond/water feature was desired and if I could incorporate some unusual feature into the corner as a focal point they would like that too.

The planting feel they hoped for was semi-exotic with maybe a cottagey feel. This is an early draft of the design based on my clients brief and some inspirational images I used to help me form the shapes and layout of the space.

view related testimonial

"The final design features a large circular deck which due to the levels in the garden does 'float' over the border that flanks it."

Unwanted views are screened using trellis hung from the new pergola erected in the corner of the garden. Planting is used to frame views within and beyond the garden when viewed from the deck.

An area of Cotswold chippings to the side of the deck leads to a raised sleeper bed with a pond at its base set into the back border. A 'streak' of decking takes you from the chippings to the side path. In the corner under the pergola was room for a sculptural feature. This was originally going to be a series of painted timber posts with LED lights embedded. However it was felt that this was not needed and so was removed from the garden.

The main idea with this design was create a sense that the garden extends beyond the actual boundaries.

To this end the fences were painted dark green, with the plants in front to give depth to the beds.

"This view from the deck is one of the key things I wanted to achieve with this design. It incorporates a 'borrowed landscape' of the trees beyond the garden and makes it feel part of the garden."

Make an enquiry or view case study 1