Family garden

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The brief: to combine the feel of a mature and private garden with the look and feel of a contemporary space-through the use of materials and the division of the space. Borders should be generous and with seasonal changes, a productive fruit and vegetable garden is desirable, and a decked area is required to link the garden with the contemporary kitchen diner.

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Our response: the long and narrow garden was divided into practical and useful areas and a sizeable lawn was retained for family games; the garden includes a small productive garden with soft fruit bushes, fruit trees and a number of raised beds.​ A silver-grey hardwood deck is attached to the modern kitchen dinner, the wide bi-fold doors with their low rebated threshold allow for the kitchen to extend out into the garden with boundaries blurred. The deck is surrounded by a gabion-wall filled with sizeable Scottish pebbles and a mixture of evergreens and plants of seasonal interest, including grasses and verbena surround the area as a planted screen. A sail shade provides much needed shade during the summer months.

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A patio of dark porcelain slabs provides a spot for breakfast and lunch in the sun and a small private seating area for one or two is paved with dark Dutch clay bricks.  Seating areas are all enveloped by a mixture of plants and hornbeam hedging. Many large specimen trees and shrubs remain, these provide maturity and privacy for this town-based garden. New planted borders are generous, deepening that sense of seclusion and intimacy.​ Planting is used in a naturalistic way and makes the most of each aspect. Discrete garden lighting is a practical edition which also enhances alfresco evening dinning.

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