UK Garden Tour: A New Formal Design for a Tricky-Shaped Garden
Here is the same area after the redesign (seen from a different angle).“We instilled symmetry in this part of the garden by putting a square area inside the triangle for socialising and sitting in,” says Rowe. “The rest of the triangle is planting. It gives you privacy and a sense of order.” This is the largest part of the unusually shaped overall garden, and is situated to the left of the house, at the front.Need expert help designing your garden? Find a landscape architect or designer near you on Houzz
This view of the space shows the wall seen in the second picture.Rowe and the owners decided against a lawn, as there isn’t enough sunlight, exacerbated by an existing mimosa tree. Instead, she suggested a mix of gravel and paving.Pale grey Spanish limestone paving and limestone gravel help brighten up the area, while planted rills (pictured below in detail) and yew hedging break up the space and add to the sense of order.To boost privacy here, Rowe also planted multi-stem trees, including Parrotia persica and Amelanchier lamarckii, along the boundaries. A narrow strip of garden continues out of the other side of this area up the side of the house and leads to a utility area Rowe created, where there’s space for bins.
Rowe’s plan for the garden.The main seating area seen in previous photos is the large, triangular-shaped area pictured bottom-left. The front door is at the bottom-middle of the drawing. The dark green squares in rows are the hedges. The square at the top-right of the drawing, below the garage, is a paved dining area.
This is the same area now. The arch in the bay hedge at the far end leads to the main part of the garden containing the seating, just pictured. The front door to the house is beneath the little tiled roof.“This is the sunny part of the garden and also the front entrance, so the first thing you see when you arrive. It needed to be richly planted,” says Rowe. Planting in this section includes Alchemilla mollis; Sedum ‘Matrona’; Libertia grandiflora, and Hebe parviflora var. angustifolia.
Another narrow stretch of garden runs up the other side of the house. Two oversize decorative urns on the left replaced a water feature and provide a focal point, as the drawing room window overlooks them. As it’s dark in this spot, shade-loving plants, including Hebe parviflora var. angustifolia and Dryopteris wallichiana (alpine wood fern), were planted here. Low down, Hakonechloa macra, an ornamental grass, spills from the beds across the path, softening the line.At the end of this strip, just behind where this picture was taken from and also accessible from the back of the house, is a paved dining area.
Here, you get a glimpse of the new dining area. Situated at the back of the house, between the kitchen and garage, this had previously been a shady, under-used space. “It was dark and gloomy. [The owners] thought they’d never use it, but now they do,” says Rowe. To lighten it, Rowe substantially pruned back a large Magnolia grandiflora. The pale paving also helps lighten up the area, as does more organised planting.The plants here include Hebe parviflora var. angustifolia; Polystichum setiferum ‘Pulcherrimum Bevis’, and clematis and jasmine climbing up the walls.
Right next to the front door (the brickwork of which is visible here on the right), Rowe added a large, low herb container as a focal point.Your turnWhat ideas could you take from this unique garden for your own outdoor area? Tell us in the Comments below, like this story, save the images for inspiration, and join the conversation.MoreFancy a peek inside a beautiful Australian garden? Don’t miss this Garden Tour: A Magical Garden Full of Surprises
Garden at a GlanceWho lives here: A coupleLocation: London, UKProperty: A detached, Norman Shaw-designed Arts and Crafts houseGarden size: In total, just over 300 square metres. The garden runs around the house and includes a long, thin plot along the facade, a small terrace at the back, a winding path, and a triangular section.Designer: Charlotte Rowe of Charlotte Rowe Garden DesignThe plan was to create two main spaces – a dining area off the kitchen at the back of the house and a secluded seating area in the largest section of garden, the above-mentioned triangular space at the front of the house. As every part of the garden (not just these two sections) is overlooked by various windows on the ground floor, the pathways between these areas had to be equally lovely to look at.
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