London Garden Design Diary – Week 17

The garden design in Hackney is nearing completion and is set to include a ingenious storage cum kids play platform. This decking platform will also serve as a daybed, with sunken storage and a sandpit. Elegant and stylish green and white planting will help to maintain the garden’s existing verdant charm. Katrina is due to present to the clients next week, after which the full presentation will be published on the blog.

Drawings are also progressing on the garden design for Walthamstow. Matt completed the site survey on Monday and, as the garden is fairly small and the budget quite low, Katrina and Matt are able to push it through the studio quite quickly. This garden features a paved circle, bike storage and children’s area, all in a very compact space. Katrina is due to present to the client next week.

Katrina went to visit a potential client in Muswell Hill today. Nick and Fermin had a typically art deco house and were looking for a modern garden design to compliment their house. They had renovated and decorated the inside and were now turning their attentions to their exterior space. Although a north facing garden, they did have sunny patches and the garden also backed onto an old railway line and woodlands. The site is quite challenging as it is on a steep slope and will need terracing. Whilst there is side access it is also stepped and there is a tight turn to consider. The design concept was very bold and the clients are giving it careful consideration before committing to the design process. Watch this space.

Katrina also went to visit a property in Parliament Hill, opposite the house in which George Orwell lived. The client had lived in the property since the 1960s, spending the last 30 years in the top flat with her partner Peter. Several years ago the client divided the garden in half and now wishes to develop the bottom of the garden into somewhere attractive to it and enjoy the sunshine. Since a large tree was removed the area in question is now much more exposed and they are looking for ways to increase the privacy without losing the late evening sunlight. The area on the way down to the terrace is grassed and quite natural in style and the client is a keen gardener. The area is also bounded by red brick walls down one side. Storage in this area is also an issue with the distance to the flat quite substantial and currently being no storage in garden at the moment. The design needs to be sympathetical with the current garden, yet fulfil the clients requirements

Unfortunately the continued very wet weather has put paid to any plans Matt had to expedite his site in Leyton. The lower area of the garden, which Matt excavated wth a mini-digger last week, is now underwater, which will make any work in the garden difficult and possibly dangerous. As the ground is exposed clay and mud, it will probably take a few days to drain and dry after the rain finally abates so it is unlikely that the team will be returning to site this week.