From the drawing board

I have recently been commissioned to work with a couple in East Horsley.  They’ve lived there for just over the year and now that they have completed some renovations to the house they are ready to tackle the garden.

The house is in a fabulous location and they have access out on to the field beyond the end boundary.  It’s so important that the garden not only fits with the house and their lifestyle but also works with the countryside beyond.

The garden now is quite overgrown and a bit tired. When you look out from the kitchen it feels as though the garden stops at the archway.  It’s not until you walk down the garden that you realise just how big it is.  Beyond the shrubbery on the right, for example, there’s a greenhouse and area for growing veg.  It’s huge, 42m long in total!

My clients really wanted to open up the space and we all agreed from the outset that the beautiful oak tree at the end of the garden should be the main focal point from the house.

The terrace needed to be big enough to accommodate up to 14 people so it has been moved out into the garden.  This also created an opportunity to soften the walls of the house with planting.

As you move away from the house the garden becomes more informal.  The greenhouse remains where it is now but we have created a more attractive potager for growing vegetables.  By the time you get to the oak tree at the end, the planting has turned to long grasses.

I’m looking forward to moving the design to the next stage now ready for the construction phase of the project to start in the Autumn.  I’ll keep you posted with the progress.

One of the first blog posts I ever wrote featured a courtyard garden I designed for a client in Reigate.  Whilst the build was in full swing my client was swept off her feet and by the end of the project she had accepted a proposal of marriage and decided to sell the house. Read more

You may remember that I helped a client in Wandsworth to redesign their terrace last year.  They were part-way through an extensive house building project and now that it’s all finished, they have asked me back to help them to redesign their front garden. Read more

July has been another busy month for me – I think the week of summer we had (at last!) has put everyone in a spin about their gardens.  The persistent rain in the UK this year has meant that whilst our gardens are growing like mad, the best we can do is look and wonder how we’ll ever get the chance to get out there and keep everything in check. Read more

I thought you might like to see the concept design and sketches I have put together for a client in Twickenham.  I have known Rob for a long time because we used to work together in the City. Read more

You may or may not be aware that I coordinate my local “Cluster Group” for the Society of Garden Designers (SGD).  It’s a peer network group for members of the SGD and each month we either invite a speaker, choose a topic to discuss or make a visit somewhere. Read more

June has been another wet month which we now all know is a new record for the UK and it has certainly brought its challenges to the garden world.  I planted up a garden in Leatherhead a couple of weeks ago and despite being on chalky soil, which is normally so well drained, it was like working with mud pies.  Needless to say, we didn’t need to turn on the new irrigation system! Read more

I went to visit my project in Sutton this week, to check on the planting and see how things are progressing.  I can’t believe how much everything has grown since it was planted in April, it already feels more like a garden. Read more

Last week I presented the concept design and sketches to a client in Beare Green near Dorking.  They are about to embark on a house building project where the plan is to create a garden room at the back of the house. As they are nearing retirement, the original plan was to move somewhere else, but instead they have decided to stay put and make some changes.  This is how the garden looks now… Read more

May has been a wonderful month for me and I’m sure you can easily guess that the Chelsea Flower Show for me has been the highlight of the year so far.  Not only did I have the opportunity to design the stand with English Garden Joinery this year, but we were also awarded with a Certificate of Merit.  My huge apologies go out to you regular readers for mentioning it again. I’m sure you’ve heard more than enough about the subject by now (!) however if you did miss out, you may wish to read the blog post I wrote about it last week. Read more