- Project 1 -

The Gravel Garden

The Brief

Pauline and Peter had moved to Wiltshire from Norfolk, inheriting a medium-sized garden with some beautiful old fruit trees and an expanse of unloved lawn. Having seen a gravel garden at the Chelsea Garden Show, they knew they wanted something in that style to create a low-maintenance, drought-resistant garden, while retaining the orchard area. They also wanted space for a greenhouse and vegetable growing, a larger shed and, most importantly, an environment for their young grandsons to explore.

The Design

By reshaping the existing patio, all the hard, straight edges were removed, creating curved paths leading through the garden. The sunniest part of the garden was planted with sun loving, naturalistic planting, surrounding a circular paved area for a large table. This is edged with corten steel posts, which, with the gravel and pale grey boardwalk path harks back to the Norfolk coastline.

I immediately felt that the area beneath the trees could be a magical space to be in on a hotter day, with the trees giving some welcome shade. By reducing the height at the end of the garden, you step down into a more woodlands area, with shade loving plants and a feature planter filled with large foliage bog loving plants. A reclaimed water trough collects water from the shed and is already home to frogs, as well as the use of log piles for bugs.

Within three months of planting, the garden looked really established and natural, with large planters filled with flowers for cutting and the raised beds overflowing with runner beans, squashes and herbs. A lovely space to potter and play in for the whole family.