Designed for a young couple, this low maintenance garden provides a contemporary space for the clients to enjoy. Features include a lawn edged with cobbles, a timber pergola adorned with fragrant climbers, a modern sphere water feature and a selection of architectural and low maintenance planting.

The two tiered water feature constructed out of railway sleepers provides the main focal point in this garden. To one side there is a informal patio area for entertaining and enjoying the warmer weather! On the other side is a gravel garden with a pergola walkway providing an informal screen to the neighbours garden. As a final touch, the garden has been planted with a wonderful mix of perennials and shrubs to give a colourful display
throughout the year!

Using rustic railway sleepers, this sloping site has been terraced to provide two level lawn areas making the garden a more useable space. The railway sleepers make an aesthetic and cost effective retaining wall, and have been finished at a height which is perfect to ‘perch’ on with a glass of wine! Other features include a small octagonal patio area, water feature and gravel garden.

Having inherited this garden from an elderly couple, the clients wanted to revamp and update their outdoor space and add their own personal touch! The first job was to remove some of the large over-gown leylandi hedges which enclosed and dominated the garden! With extra light flooding in, we divided up the existing space to make a number of separate areas and ‘rooms’ within the garden.

Element s included a new circular cobble circle with a bird bath as a central focal feature, a woodland garden with bark mulch pathways and rustic railway sleeper steps, a gravel garden highlighting an existing lime tree and a large circular patio area. Existing plants were recycled and reused  where possible and then enhanced with a selection of new shrubs and perennials, using different planting styles to highlight the different areas of the garden.

Originally this garden consisted of a large lawn which then led into a large open paddock. The brief was to make the whole space more interesting, providing a definition between the garden and paddock and incorporating a mix of planting areas.

The final result incorporated a large formal lawn area with timber pergola to one side over existing patio …. a great space for entertaining and enjoying the garden with family and friends! To unify the paddock and garden areas and give the feeling of continued ‘grass’,  the steps leading from the formal lawn area to the paddock were constructed using brick risers with mown grass treads. On the far side of the garden, there was a contrasting gravel garden, with beds overflowing with an abundance of brightly coloured perennials.

Set in the heart of the beautiful Northamptonshire countryside, this farmhouse was undergoing renovation work and the garden also required considerable re-landscaping and updating. Previously enclosed by tall hedges, the final scheme opened up the space enabling the clients to enjoy the wonderful views of the countryside beyond whilst retaining a private garden area screened from the farm yard. The final garden incorporated a combination of wonderful elements, including:

• Lower Terrace  with Raised Water Feature:  leading out from new conservatory this provides a wonderful space for alfresco living and entertaining with family and friends.
• The Sunken Garden: the original well outside the back door was rebuilt and surrounded with a circle of rustic cobbles which then intersected with a gravel circle edged with cobbles.  The borders were planted with a fabulous selection of ferns and shade loving plants to compliment the area.
• The Upper Terrace: timber seating arbour/walkway adorned with selection of fragrant climbers provides a different place to sit and enjoy the garden, whilst also providing a subtle screen to the farmyard beyond.
• The English Garden: steps lead up from the lower terrace to a large circular lawn area with a circular patio completed in granite sets and enclosed by a beech hedge to one side. The borders have been planted with a traditional mix of shrubs and perennials in keeping with a farmhouse of this period. The garden has been enclosed by a beech hedge marking the boundary, but with a new 5 bar farm gate installed to maintain views to the fields beyond.
• The Retreat: set off from the main lawn is a smaller circular lawn with a bench set under the shade of an existing Magnolia Tree … the perfect spot to escape with the Sunday papers and enjoy a quiet cup of coffee!
• The Parterre Garden: The front garden has been designed as a formal Knot Garden planted into gravel using a mix of Box, Lonicera and Santolina hedging, clipped topiary box balls and a new Yew hedge planted along the boundary … a perfect compliment to the style of this property!

This property was in the final stages of construction when we first visited and the 'garden' was a building site! We have transformed this space into a garden that truly enhances the property and completes the whole building project.

The final garden comprises of a number of very different elements, including a formal parterre garden with clipped box hedging and gravel pathways, a traditional English cottage garden with a large lawn and traditional planting, and a more informal area with a 'board-walk' style pathway leading through lush planting to a raised seating area.

This is a garden that we have maintained for over 10yrs, whilst also completing different planting and landscaping projects as required. With a large property enjoying a wonderful garden and surrounding paddocks, the client was persuaded (by me!) to have a large wildlife pond constructed in one corner of a paddock. Before he could change his mind, we had the diggers in and created a kidney-shaped pond with sloping sides and planting ledges which was then lined with a buytl liner.

In order to keep the water moving a stream was constructed so that it emerged from the back of the planted border and down into the pond. The pond was surrounded by a fabulous selection of perennials and marginal aquatic plants which provide a wonderful array of colour and interest during the spring, summer and autumn months. Many of these plants have either self seeded or spread naturally on their own over the years, or have been divided by us, to give a truly natural backdrop to the pond.

It has become a home to an abundance of wildlife and with the delicate sound of bubbling water in the background, it is a great spot to relax and unwind after a busy day!

The client was in the process of converting an old stable building and needed the old yard transformed into a garden. Since the building was listed we had to provide a sympathetic scheme which reused many of the original materials.

The result was a charming garden comprising of a series of 'rooms'. An existing well was rebuilt at the entrance of the garden, stable doors were used to build a pergola seating area and feeding mangers were transformed into a water feature! The garden was completed with an abundant selection of cottage garden plants to reflect the period of the property!

Approaching their retirement, the clients wanted to give their garden a fresh new look, providing a space that required minimal maintenance which they could enjoy with their grandchildren.  In the back garden, the boundary fence was moved into the back field to extend the garden and allow a larger circular lawn area with an intersecting circular patio area, perfect for entertaining with family and friends!

In the side garden, the pathway was re-laid incorporating a circular brick circle and pergola walkway adorned with selection of fragrant climbers. A new fence and gate was put up in line with the front of the house to prevent any grandchildren from escaping!

Here we have transformed an old veg. plot into a charming 'Potager' comprising of four raised beds constructed out of railway sleepers with a central timber pergola structure - ideal for growing anything from a grape vine to a bumper crop of runner beans. Pathways between the beds have been paved to enable easy access and maintenance.

A new garden shed with a patio area to one side completes this area of the garden and provides a wonderful space for relaxing with a glass of wine when all the hard work has been done!

This area of the client’s garden was one of the sunniest in their garden but, except for the greenhouse which had been ideally sited; it was hardly used and enjoyed! In need of a sunny spot for entertaining and relaxing on a summer’s day, the greenhouse was relocated and the area was transformed into an ‘Outdoor Room’ with a large paved area (completed in natural stone with granite detail) and a contemporary style pergola.

In turn, this provided a wider access into the main garden and opened up the view giving a greater sense of space. Gravel pathways at one side lead round to a new vegetable garden with raised beds constructed out of railway sleepers and enclosed by a beech hedge.

The borders in this garden had begun to look tired and past their best … time for a makeover!! Existing shrubs were cut back and any unwanted plants were cleared; borders were then re-shaped and mulched with mushroom compost. Areas were then re-planted with a mix of shrubs, perennials and grasses selected to give interest and colour throughout the year.

Plants with lush foliage and typical for pond areas including Aruncus dioicus’, Astilbe 'Fanal', Gunnera manicata’,  Ligularia dentata 'Desdemona' and  Trollius chinensis 'Golden Queen' were chosen to go around the water feature.

Opposite, using a mix of Heuchera ‘Purple Emperor’, Sedum 'Autumn Joy', Euphorbia characias wulfenii, Actea simplex 'Atropurpurea' and Foeniculum vulgare 'Purpurem' (Bronze Fennel) the border contained a mix of contrasting dark purple/black and grey foliage.

This was further enhanced by an abundance of bright colourful flowering perennials including Helenium 'Moerheim Beauty, 'Penstemon 'Raven', Monarda Panorama Mix, and  Achillea 'Terracotta'.

To soften and harmonise, Salvia x syvestris 'Blue Queen', Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant', Echinops ritro 'Veitchs Blue' and Polemonium caeruleum 'Sky Blue' provided a delicate ‘splattering’ of blue running through the border.  

Planting in the other borders around the garden was re-vamped using a mix of classic perennials including  Astrantia major, Digitalis ‘Thapsi’,  Campanula punctata 'Rubiflora', Lupinus 'The Page', Phlox carolina 'Bill Baker' to give an overall feel and look of an English Cottage Garden!

With the garden forming an ‘L’ shape around the house, borders sloping dramatically from front to back and with the poorest soil in the whole of Northamptonshire, this project was a formidable but wonderful challenge!!
The result was a series of different gardens, each with its own planting style but unified in the use of hard landscaping materials! At the side was the ‘Woodland Garden’ with a main gravel pathway, smaller bark-mulch paths, rustic railway sleeper steps and a seating area completed in old-fashioned red bricks. The planting combined a selection of trees under-planted with a mix of shrubs and perennials to give a rambling woodland feel.

On the corner of the ‘L’ was the ‘Water Garden’ with three separate water pools linked by a connecting stream,  water cascaded from top to bottom. To one side is a circular patio area and a rustic wooden bridge takes you over the bottom stream and keeps your feet dry! The area is completed by a wondrous selection of pond-type plants  with lush and architectural foliage and colourful flowers.

On the third side is the ‘Mediterranean Garden’ incorporating a small lawn and terraced borders, overflowing with fragrance and colour. A small patio area with timber pergola adorned with selection of fragrant climbers provides the perfect spot to relax and enjoy the garden with family and friends!