The Brief
A family who recently did an amazing extension of their home with a fabulous kitchen diner with glass doors that unfortunately led into the view of a dank garden that did not reflect their interior tastes. The garden will be used for entertaining mainly but with enough room for two boisterous young boys to play as well. The owners are not into formal dining but like parties around a BBQ with low level seating and plenty of room for a large number of people to stand. The garden is south facing but busy lives mean that the plants need to be low maintenance and eventually drought tolerant. Side access was through the house and involved a bend through doorways so was challenging. The fence was also in a very bad condition and challenging issues of ownership so could not be replaced in the most part.
Design
There was an existing patio that provides a continuation to the kitchen/diner flooring. I designed a step down into a contrasting light grey brick paver area with a small herb garden on the side and planting on the other that merges into a bigger bed under a pinus sylvestris “Watereri”, which although looks quite small, barely made it through the house! The owners wanted a tree that would not get too big and eventually block out the sun. A composite deck with bespoke cantilevered seating provides a relaxed chill out zone at the end of garden. The fence has been painted dark grey and then batons were spray painted off site have been placed on top to hide the original fencing and make it all look brand new.
We love our new garden. Chris listened to our brief and designed a perfect garden for our needs with two boys. He removed our muddy lawn, provided an entertaining area for us and gorgeous low maintenance planting that survived and flourished in the London heatwave! Not only did he design the garden, he came round regularly throughout the whole process to oversee the build and then maintained and added to the planting for months after it was finished. It was great to have a designer who cared and took such an interest. The garden has surpassed our wildest expectations. And all well within budget!