Formal front & back gardens
This design was commissioned by a couple with two young children. They requested a ‘facelift’ for the front garden, which had been planted up and hard landscaped some years before, and a complete re-design along traditional lines for the large east-facing rear garden. The garden was bounded on all sides by mature hedging, and this, together with all the existing non-coniferous trees, was to remain. The clients also wanted to re-site some large play equipment, and incorporate planting tough enough to cope with a very dry area beneath the leaf canopy of a large tree just beyond their northern boundary. They also requested a safe water feature, a large lawn, a substantial dining and entertaining area, and a lighting and irrigation system. The garden was to be cared for by a maintenance firm.
The new design for the south facing front garden makes use of a stilted and pleached lime hedge to provide more shade in summer without compromising security, and more colourful planting with year round interest. The rear garden now has a large terrace overlooking a rectangular box-edged lily pond, with a formal dining area immediately outside the kitchen and conservatory. Beyond this lies a lavender edged lawn bounded by rose-covered obelisks and a pleached hedge of ornamental pear trees. Tall yew hedging frames a sculpture, and separates two new spaces from the main garden: a ‘secret’ garden with far more informal and colourful planting, and a separate children’s garden with all the play equipment.
