ENGLISH COUNTRY GARDEN, BLACKWATER ESTUARY
A stunning location on the edge of the estuary, this Georgian house had a somewhat tired and congested garden with many dead and dying trees and oddly misshapen planting beds full of old plants. Despite the clutter and confusion the house and garden had an age old charm that comes with a period property, so we had to be careful not to break this spell and ensure any new design sat comfortably with and honoured the inherent beauty of the setting and space.
We were fortunate that there were three very large mature trees growing close to the house; a horse chestnut, an ash and an old oak lying on the ground, all three bringing character and age to the garden. The existing stone terrace was perfectly good but in a place that only received morning sunshine and the lawns were very uneven with no defined boundaries. The garden as a whole looked unloved and unmanageable.
The clients had opposing briefs for the garden, one wanted structure and formality and the other wanted much of the garden to be left alone for nature to take care of itself. In order to meet both design briefs our approach was to create structure around the house in the form of paths and terraces, linking front to back and softened by generous planting beds that would also welcome nature in. Then in the wider garden we designed clearly shaped lawns, wrapped by existing trees in long grass with seasonal bulbs - the wilder element.
Structure was created in the form of a traditional parterre at the front of the house with all its symmetry and formality linking to the 18th century facade. Steel edged gravel pathways joined the parterre with the new terrace under the horse chestnut following on to the existing terrace and round to the back door and a new brick pathway to the parking area. The house sits slightly higher than the rest of the garden and many windows look across the now neat and tidy lawns to the wilder areas on the perimeter of the garden.
We wanted the clients to be able to sit down in the warm sunshine for an evening drink on their new terrace whilst admiring the planting beds as well as the view of the wilder parts of the garden.
Credit: Rebecca Lewis at Poshyarns Photography
The long grass areas already beautiful in their own right with existing native flora and fauna including cow parsley, cow slips, bluebells and daffodils, the vision of an English Country Garden.
PROJECT JOURNEY:
