- Project 4 -

Rose Garden

The Brief

This garden is part of a beautiful heritage property in the heart of Wiltshire, the grounds have numerous listed features and protected ancient trees. Since purchasing the property five years ago, the owners have made many improvements to the house and now feel it is time to have gardens that reflect their taste and lifestyle. Whilst also undertaking a lot of restoration work in the gardens at the front of the house, I have redesigned two significant areas which require more hard landscaping: the Rose Garden is the first phase which was completed in December 2021. The second phase, the much larger Walled Garden, will be commenced in 2022, and re-landscaped in stages over a two year period.

The Rose Garden:

The clients both run successful businesses and therefore lead very busy lives. Their home is their sanctuary where they enjoy spending time with their university-aged children and dogs, and, while they enjoy some gardening activities, they do not have time to do much of the maintenance needed for a garden that covers over two acres.

The Design

We identified two separate areas that could be redesigned to connect them more cohesively to the style of the house. As the Rose Garden leads directly from the dining room and lounge, it was felt this was a good place to start. It was also the area in most need of some TLC, as the once beautiful box topiary had been sadly hit by blight and was rather ravaged by time. The client was really keen to have a small area of the garden where she could kick off her shoes and walk out the door with a cup of tea (or a gin and tonic) to catch a few moments of tranquility.

With this in mind, I recommended a slate paving that is easy to keep clean, and pleasant underfoot. We both liked the formal layout of the existing garden, and so I designed a contemporary version planted with a range of evergreen and fragranced perennials, all within a limited palette of white to create a calming atmosphere. A timber arbour seat at the far end provides the perfect perch from which to look back at the house; a water feature formed from a vintage copper bowl gives gentle background sound.

Working with the client’s building contractors the landscaping was completed, with uplighting installed to highlight the beautiful topiaried Portuguese Laurels. As the property is home to many bats and nocturnal wildlife, it was essential to consider lighting that would not disturb them, alongside nature-friendly planting.