Small country garden

Location: Shropshire

The Brief

When the client originally approached me, the house had not been constructed so the main difficulty was to visualise with the help of the architectural drawings, how it would look when built.

The garden would predominantly be on one level. There was a large retaining wall to the front of the property. Towards the rear of the house the ground rose and would need further retention.

The main requirement was to have an area for dining and entertaining.

The cost of the landscaping had to be kept low and the client required a minimal level of maintenance.

The two timber terraces by the doorways were to be retained and become part of the overall design.

The Design

The houses being constructed were using timber and painted plaster cladding. The painted sections were to be strongly defined in their individual colours. This aspect and the geometry of the sloping site with small passageways between the buildings was reminiscent of Portmeirion in Wales, the Italian style village built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis.

The design of the garden reflects elements of this in the use of Mediterranean style plants with the strong vertical elements of three evergreen Cupressus sempervirens ‘Totem’ trees.

The planting borders were retained with new railway sleepers. In such a small area a lawn becomes impractical and the rest of the garden was gravelled with a natural stepping stone path connecting the timber terrace with the main dining terrace. A timber arch over the path adds additional height and interest.