David Johnson Garden Design and Consultancy

A small village garden to front, side and back of the property

This was a recent job, and an absolute joy to work with a charming customer with a real love, and knowledge of, gardening. Having recently moved into the property, that was of modern construction, it was evident the garden had been kept very plain, probably unchanged since the original house build. Paving to the front had become uneven, and needed to be renewed. A strip of garden to the side of the property was set mostly to grass, with some peripheral planting, but lacked form or interest. The garden to the rear of the house was again set to grass, with a small area of badly located decking, and planting here was minimal. The following shots show the problem:

  Existing, undulating driveway  

Garden to the side of the property, lacking real form and interest

   Rear garden, bare with small deck at right

The remit was an interesting one. The customer being a lover of traditional English gardens, and a keen plant expert as well, what was required was to give an area from which the garden could be admired, a sense of informality, and a wide range of quality plants that would provide colour and interest across the seasons.

The plans drafted provided for the drive to be re-laid to accommodate the client's car, but a narrow border was left to the right-hand side of the drive, planted with a number of hardy fuchsias to provide an informal low hedge feature. Grass was lifted from the area to the side of the property, and an informal curved walkway was laid amongst shrubs and herbaceous plants that will give year-round interest, form and colour. Space was allocated to a bird-feeding area, and the overall impact of planting was to be natural.

The area of garden to the rear of the property catches the afternoon and early evening sun, so a small area given over to seating and leisure was located to the rear of the plot. Raised wooden beds were installed to deal with a shift in the level of the land at the back of the garden, and a small wooden pergola was built into this feature to allow for the planting of climbers. All lawn was lifted to make way for planting, which in this area focused on traditional cottage style and summer interest. The layout plan is as follows:

Whilst this garden is very simple in design and concept, it nonetheless fits a lot of features into a fairly small area. Whilst each of the three key areas is distinct, there is now a good blend and transition from one area to the other, with a linking of styles and planting types. The following pictures were taken during the garden's first season, and I hope to update the shots further as the garden develops this coming year.

    Newly-laid driveway and fuchsia bed

Revised structure and planting to the side, strong form and good access

Newly-built rear garden, English informal style planting