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…

Over the years they have added plants to the garden, but the basic structure and layout hasn’t changed for years.  It’s a challenging site because it’s a triangular plot that faces north and because it’s on heavy clay the soil is both wet and difficult to work with.  In addition, the site slopes to the side of the house so they are keen to make better use of the space.

Their decision to stay in the house has facilitated the decision to review the garden and they really want to create a space that feels connected to the house and inspires them to spend time out there in the summer.

The brief was quite straight forward really, they would like a seating area and raised beds outside the garden room, ideally with some integral seating, and a separate area located in the sunnier part of the garden to accommodate their wooden sun loungers.  They would like to maintain some of the lawn but be able to get round most of the garden without having to walk across the grass in winter when it gets really wet.

By dividing the garden into a series of rooms, we have managed to create a feeling of space.  You will notice that I have ignored the triangular shape of the plot which, once the planting has had time to mature, will become invisible anyway.

Here are the sketches I put together of the same views I showed you in the photographs above…

My clients are now feeling very excited about the prospect of their new garden.  As I have only been commissioned to produce a concept design, they will be taking the project forward themselves from this point.  I will look forward to hearing how they get on along the way and, as they have indicated that they would like some help with the planting, I hope to be able to share some pictures of the finished garden in a few months time.

I really hope you enjoyed the Jubilee weekend (assuming you’re in the UK of course!).  I managed to spend some time in the garden, between showers, tidying up a bit so I thought you might like to see some pictures of the plants that are looking gorgeous in my garden right 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

This month’s Garden Flowers post, which I write with Rona Wheeldon of Flowerona features the top three new plants at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Read more

Sponsored by Homebase, the Teenage Cancer Trust garden, designed by Joe Swift, was another of my favourite Main Avenue show gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show this year.  The garden was inspired by the power that plants and natural forms have on urban and suburban environments.  It was designed as a dry garden to give consideration to water sources and sustainability issues. Read more

It was the last day of the Chelsea Flower Show on Saturday and another hot and tiring day, but somehow knowing that it was our last gave us an extra burst of energy and by the time the show finished at 5.30pm we really did feel quite sad to be dismantling the stand.  It was a really brilliant week and we got such amazing feedback about the design and the craftmanship of the products that English Garden Joinery were showcasing – we even had someone interested in buying the whole stand! Read more

As you know, I have been at the Cheslea Flower Show almost every day this week helping to man the English Garden Joinery stand.  In some ways this has been brilliant because I’ve been able to see different parts of the show on each of the days, but what it has meant is that time has been a bit of a luxury and I haven’t had the chance to write any blog posts about it. Read more

It’s Press Day at Chelsea Flower Show today and it’s very exciting not only to be there before the show opens to the public, but also to be part of the show.  I spent a few hours yesterday with English Garden Joinery at the showground, putting the final touches to their show stand and I am delighted to be able to share the finished stand with you… Read more

It’s been a while since my front garden was finished and I know the rain has been really miserable over the past few weeks, but it has kept my new plants happy and they’re already putting on some growth. Read more

Last week Rona Wheeldon and I went along to the preview evening at The Garden Shop at Petersham Nurseries.  The Garden Shop is the new retail space that is designed exclusively for gardeners and is full of gorgeous plants and stylish garden accessories.  We arrived a little early so that we had chance to take some photographs – a brilliant place to hone the skills we’d learned with Clive Nichols a week or so ago! Read more