North London Garden Design: Garden Of The Month March 2010

This North London garden design seeks to unify a large and unstructured family space, providing two distinct areas for dining and entertaining while retaining a child friendly aspect.

Flooring throughout will be in attractive, stylish and durable Travertine paving laid in a formal ‘grid’ pattern, chosen to echo that intended for use within the house (client to supply). The level of the existing patio adjoining the house will be lowered to bring the new larger patio level with the rest of the space. This patio will feature a 3m square area of soft Western Red Cedar decking, to provide contrast to, and break up, the expanse of white paving.

Lawn and paths will be bisected by an arresting bespoke walk-over water feature. This feature will comprise a long (6m), sunken metal rill edged with sunken railway sleepers, which will be covered with clear perspex where it cuts through the lawn and strong fibre glass grills at either end where it crosses the pathways. Two raised railway sleeper pools, one at either end of the rill, will gently pour water through the grills to the rill below, to imbue the space with the soporific sound of running water. This highly unusual, child-friendly feature will provide endless fascination for young and old alike, and is sure to be a talking point on any occasion.

Planting in the space will comprise evergreen shrubs and herbaceous perennials in red, blue and pink in beds along either side boundary, with tall bamboo providing screening and privacy across the back of the space.

This north London garden design will be complete with a comprehensive lighting scheme intended to allow continued use of the space when the sun goes down. The pergola structure will be illuminated with a host of large LED light fittings set into the ceiling, casting a gentle yet effective wash across the conversation pit below, while the pit itself will be defined with a set of smaller LED lights set into the railway sleeper sides. The garden user’s journey down the space will be guided by a series of 240 volt stainless steel down lighters installed on the inside of each post of the railway sleeper arches, turning each arch into a stunning nocturnal sculpture. Bright submersible pond lights positioned under the grill at either end of the sunken rill will illuminate both the waterfalls and the main span of the rill, casting a subtle, undulating aura across the space. Finally, a series of low voltage spotlights set throughout the planting beds will cast a gentle glow throughout the garden, while serving to illuminate individual specimen plants.

Call us at Earth Designs on 01702 662 950 to discuss the best way to proceed.