Insightful design for outside spaces
A COTTAGE GARDEN
EARL'S CROOME, WORCESTERSHIRE
This was a design for a very small, slightly sloping cottage garden. My clients wanted to remove the lawn, which was hard to maintain easily in such a small space but also wanted to preserve the 'cottagey' feel of the garden. My solution was to excavate the existing lawn area to remove the slope and push the change in level away from the house. This meant that the existing border, previously at ground level, in effect became a raised bed. Paving the area with rustic stone provided plenty of room for seating. Simplifying and levelling the layout also made the garden feel bigger.
I created two sitting areas for enjoying the sun at different times of the day, and additional planting was added to allow plants to grow up the house to help soften down the facade. Finally, two large painted obelisks were added to the border to support two existing climbing roses, providing a focus and structure.