South Woodford garden designer sows ideas
Brief
Lisa was looking for a South Woodford Garden Designer and called in Earth Designs to see if they could help. Katrina visited and carried out a garden design consultation upon which Lisa commissioned a garden design package. Here’s what Katrina delivered.
The clients purchased this property a year ago and are currently undertaking extensive renovations to the interior, including the construction of an orangery and an extension to the kitchen with bi-fold doors to serve as the main access to the garden. The property is in a conservation area. The garden is essentially a blank canvas, with few features other than some mature trees/shrubs and an African-style circular timber gazebo. There is also a large brick-built building in the back left corner of the garden, which is currently used for storage. During the consultation it was identified that, as there is direct access to the street at the rear of the space, the area adjoining the building should initially remain un-landscaped to allow for future use for parking or storage.
Solution
The area directly adjoining the back of the house will be laid with a patio running flush with the interior of the property to create flow-through from the kitchen extension and orangery. It will be deep enough to enable the bi-fold doors to fully open without rendering the space cramped and impractical. A small flight of steps to the right of the patio will allow access to the sideway and also to a paved pathway installed parallel to the front of the patio.
To the left of this area, directly in front of the orangery, will be a circular patio installed at lawn level, accessed via a series of concentric semi-circular steps. The steps will radiate out from the centre of the circle, flanked by a box ball at one end and a curved timber bench at the other.
The existing mature trees will remain. We recommend that the existing fence is painted dark brown to provide a uniform and unobtrusive backdrop to the garden. A long pathway running down the left hand side of the lawn will lead to a second patio positioned to make the most of the sunshine throughout the day.
The second patio will be large enough to accommodate an outdoor sofa and chairs. A masonry fireplace, rendered and clad with decorative slate V-tiles, will act as a focal point and help to screen the ugly brick building behind. Planting will be used to further hide the building. A pathway will lead along the side of the building to the utility area.
A large spherical Perspex water feature will provide a focal point in the centre of the garden. The existing gazebo structure will be dismantled and be moved to the right-hand side of the space where the garden is shadier. A decorative patio formed of staggered concentric circles will spread out towards the centre of the garden, which will be laid with a lawn edged in sandstone setts. The utility area at the bottom of the garden will be hidden by decorative laser cut aluminium screens.
Planting in the space will be lush with a background of evergreen shrubs and perennials. It will feature a simple yet elegant green and white colour scheme re-enforced with block planting throughout.
