UK Garden Tour: Soft Curves Make a Long, Narrow Plot Feel Wider
Just over six metres in width but 38 metres long, this garden demanded a clever design to make every bit of it inviting
A long, thin garden shape like this one is the lot of many city dwellers, but no less of a design challenge for all its ubiquity. Garden designer Kate Eyre’s solution for this London garden in the UK? A curvilinear design that moves your eye to the left and right to make the space seem wider, plus features that tempt you to explore its length.
The couple asked Eyre for a garden that was contemporary – but still felt like a garden. “They wanted functional but beautiful and chic,” she says. A lounging area, a dining space, and a gym at the far end were essential components. As for upkeep? “Low-maintenance, but everybody always [wants that],” says Eyre.
The shape of the garden needed a design solution. “With long and thin, my recommendation is that you need to be pulled down the garden, and I suggested a destination point at the end by the gym,” says Eyre. “If you don’t have anywhere you need to go, you don’t go down it.”
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The shape of the garden needed a design solution. “With long and thin, my recommendation is that you need to be pulled down the garden, and I suggested a destination point at the end by the gym,” says Eyre. “If you don’t have anywhere you need to go, you don’t go down it.”
Find a landscape architect or designer near you on Houzz for custom solutions in your outdoor area
The back of the house was extended, which involved some excavation. The garden also slopes, so as well as the dimensions, level changes needed to be accommodated in the design.
Eyre knew the extension would be glazed. “I wanted the curved feeling to be immediate, and that’s why we had two different surfaces [in the seating area],” she says.
The left side is laid with paving, while the right features ipe hardwood decking; the curve between them draws the eye down the space.
Eyre opted for porcelain paving rather than stone. “Because it’s factory-made, you get a finer finish. Laying it, there’s far less variation, so it’s easier to manage,” she says.
Eyre knew the extension would be glazed. “I wanted the curved feeling to be immediate, and that’s why we had two different surfaces [in the seating area],” she says.
The left side is laid with paving, while the right features ipe hardwood decking; the curve between them draws the eye down the space.
Eyre opted for porcelain paving rather than stone. “Because it’s factory-made, you get a finer finish. Laying it, there’s far less variation, so it’s easier to manage,” she says.
The seating area – the garden’s first ‘room’ – is sited on the right as you look from the house. “It gets the most sun,” says Eyre.
The second ‘room’ of the garden is the dining area, a step up from the lounging zone. It, too, has decking underfoot. On the opposite side of this area is a barbecue (see previous photo). “I wanted it away from the house, so the smoke didn’t go inside,” says Eyre.
The planting around the dining table is raised to bring it to the same level and includes purple Heuchera and Buxus sempervirens balls. “[Since this garden was completed,] we’ve stopped using Buxus,” says Eyre, “as there’s been a caterpillar insurgence that’s obliterated it across London and the home counties.”
Eyre used a pale grey render for the raised beds to create a fresh finish. “I didn’t want to make the garden narrower with something too dark,” she says.
The planting around the dining table is raised to bring it to the same level and includes purple Heuchera and Buxus sempervirens balls. “[Since this garden was completed,] we’ve stopped using Buxus,” says Eyre, “as there’s been a caterpillar insurgence that’s obliterated it across London and the home counties.”
Eyre used a pale grey render for the raised beds to create a fresh finish. “I didn’t want to make the garden narrower with something too dark,” she says.
Horizontal fencing was put up in the parts of the garden nearest to the house. “It was used to keep light coming into the garden and to next door. There are three different sizes of trellis and it opens up towards the top,” says Eyre.
Flowering Heuchera was planted alongside the steps to the next level of the garden.
“The colour story of the garden is pinky, orangey and pale blue, so this was the darker end of the pinky area,” says Eyre of the beds near the dining zone. One of the homeowners is a fan of blues. “We put in the pinkiness to slightly lift it,” Eyre explains.
The blue flowers weren’t blossoming when the garden was photographed.
The blue flowers weren’t blossoming when the garden was photographed.
Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ was planted on this shadier side of the garden and adds height. A curved bed of deciduous grass, Stipa tenuissima, extends alongside it.
Looking back towards the house, you can see the sweep of Caledonian pebbles bordered by grasses. They bring a textural contrast.
The grey planters on the right-hand fence, in the seating area, contain Trachelospermum jasminoides – star jasmine. “You get evergreen cover and, if it’s in the sun or a little bit in sun, it will flower. It has the most amazing flowers that are highly scented,” says Eyre. “It’s happy to grow flat along the wall and I needed it to be like a wall hanging and not grow out into the space.”
The grey planters on the right-hand fence, in the seating area, contain Trachelospermum jasminoides – star jasmine. “You get evergreen cover and, if it’s in the sun or a little bit in sun, it will flower. It has the most amazing flowers that are highly scented,” says Eyre. “It’s happy to grow flat along the wall and I needed it to be like a wall hanging and not grow out into the space.”
The lawn, which curves elegantly against the pebbles, forms the third ‘room’ of the garden.
Seen on the right of this photo are Photinia x fraseri ‘Red Robin’ lollypop trees. They’re evergreen and bring spring colour, and they can tolerate the shady side of the garden.
For the other side, Eyre chose Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’, with pleached standard Magnolia grandiflora trees to produce a narrow screen. “‘Annabelle’ are very vivacious and billowy and I wanted that at the base of the trees,” says Eyre. “Magnolia is probably my favourite tree in the world. It’s evergreen with a shiny, glossy leaf and the most beautiful flowers the size of a hand.”
Seen on the right of this photo are Photinia x fraseri ‘Red Robin’ lollypop trees. They’re evergreen and bring spring colour, and they can tolerate the shady side of the garden.
For the other side, Eyre chose Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’, with pleached standard Magnolia grandiflora trees to produce a narrow screen. “‘Annabelle’ are very vivacious and billowy and I wanted that at the base of the trees,” says Eyre. “Magnolia is probably my favourite tree in the world. It’s evergreen with a shiny, glossy leaf and the most beautiful flowers the size of a hand.”
The gym is the garden’s fourth ‘room’, and in front is another pebbled area with lounge chairs that allow the homeowners to enjoy the morning sun that reaches this area of the garden.
“The pebbles frame the lawn and change the texture [to mark the] entrance to another space,” says Eyre. Here, she used standard Magnolia grandiflora in a teardrop shape that the homeowners can walk under to reach the gym. Their height is designed as a pull towards the end of the garden.
The bed includes Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ at the back, and Phormium ‘Sundowner’, with its sword-shaped leaves, at the front.
Your turn
Which ideas from this contemporary garden would you use in your own outdoor space? Share your thoughts in the Comments below, like this story and save the images for inspiration. Go on, join the conversation.
More
For another dose of outdoor design inspiration, don’t miss this Garden Tour: A Coastal Home With an Easy-Care Outdoor Lifestyle
“The pebbles frame the lawn and change the texture [to mark the] entrance to another space,” says Eyre. Here, she used standard Magnolia grandiflora in a teardrop shape that the homeowners can walk under to reach the gym. Their height is designed as a pull towards the end of the garden.
The bed includes Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ at the back, and Phormium ‘Sundowner’, with its sword-shaped leaves, at the front.
Your turn
Which ideas from this contemporary garden would you use in your own outdoor space? Share your thoughts in the Comments below, like this story and save the images for inspiration. Go on, join the conversation.
More
For another dose of outdoor design inspiration, don’t miss this Garden Tour: A Coastal Home With an Easy-Care Outdoor Lifestyle
Garden at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple, who have their own business, and their teenage daughter
Property type: A semi-detached Victorian house
Location: London, UK
Garden dimensions: 6.25 metres wide x 38 metres long
Garden designer: Kate Eyre of Kate Eyre Garden Design
Gardens this shape often give everything away at one glance, but this one didn’t have that problem when the owners moved in. “The house had been derelict for maybe two years,” says Eyre. And the garden? “There was Buddleja growing everywhere, and you couldn’t see past 10 metres.”
The owners had made the opposite move to many people, giving up a house in the country for the buzz of London, and opting to buy a home in need of renovation to make their money go further.