Given the economic climate, the client had decided not to move house, but to make more of the existing home, and invest in the garden. The adults wanted a space in which to sit and relax together, and to entertain friends. The children wanted a garden in which to play, to grow a few vegetables and flowers, and to keep the trampoline!

A long narrow plot is visually sub-divided into sections by the planting. The evergreen hedges will provide shape and structure during the winter months, and will in time screen the children’s trampoline from view. Climbing plants soften the garage wall and perimeter fences.

The terrace adjacent to the house is enveloped by a lush, colourful and mixed planting, and has a timber pergola to carry climbing roses and clematis overhead. The paving is laid on a diagonal grid to give the illusion of greater width and to take the eye down the garden, creating the desire to explore further. The planting takes on a less formal, more natural feel the further one moves away from the house.