- Project 5 -

Home-working professional garden

The Brief

The owner of this property is a professional woman who lives with her gorgeous dog, Chase. The existing garden was not really thriving due to the curse of Swindon clay soil, so was rather dominated by the overgrown shrubs that could survive, with a cracked, bumpy old lawn and a shed that blocked the side entrance. The rest of the planting was rather hotchpotch as often happens over years, as we get distracted by the latest colours and plants on sale in garden centres.

The initial brief was to update the garden, improve the layout and planting. The priorities were a lawn area for Chase to lie out on, plenty of low maintenance planting for year-round colour, a shaded space for reading books on sunny days and space for a garden office to be installed at a future date.

The Design

I considered the areas of the house that could be seen from the kitchen and lounge windows, as I always feel you should at least have something beautiful to look out on while doing the dishes! The garden is a compact corner plot, which gives opportunities to create different viewing points from which to enjoy a few moments as the sun moves throughout the day. It was also important to consider privacy from other houses within the cul de sac, especially for a pergola - by clearing a large shrub from a rather unpromising looking corner of the garden, I was quickly able to see this offered the perfect spot for a small pergola and lounger chair.

The initial design was agreed, along with paving that complimented the red brick of the house, the client then employing the landscaping contractor to install all the hard landscaping and turf. Once this stage was completed I returned to discuss the planting scheme with the client, identifying her preferred colour palette of muted pinks, creams and burgundy tones. This beautiful combination was extended across a range of shrubs, ornamental grasses and flowering perennials within the large bed sweeping around the lawn, planting pockets near to the house and large planters on the gravel - these were placed in temporary positions until the garden office was built at a later date.

After improving the soil quality significantly and planting the garden, I have returned twice a year to oversee the progress of the garden as it has grown in. We have an agreed budget for continuing with the soil improvement and replacing any seasonal planting with the pots, so that garden stays true to the original design and the plants thrive.