Morden

This garden began life as a blank canvas. The tired, weed strewn patio was not only mostly unusable but had also been laid too high on the house damp proof course, posing potential drainage issues. A pathway to a dilapidated large shed and rear gate with overgrown jungle beyond were its only other features.

When I met our clients their first thoughts were to completely clear the garden and its three boundaries. I was more than happy to agree and began planning their new garden. Their brief was to aim for two seating areas, one larger for dining and entertaining and one smaller evening space. A route to a new area for a new shed with clear access from a new rear gate was also on the list, along with new electrics, lighting and the inclusion of space for a portable pizza oven to showcase my client’s culinary skills.

My clients’ busy lives demanded a very low maintenance garden, especially in terms of the planting scheme. Although seemingly a hard task to envisage a new functional space, our drawings proved that a beautiful garden could be possible here and within my clients’ budget.

The aspect was on our side, with the garden bathed in sun all day, setting towards the right-hand side looking back at the garden. This heat was both a blessing but also posed the problem of a lack of shade. The new plans therefore added a purpose-built watertight aluminium pergola with hand-wound louvre system that would give both shade and shelter.

The setting sun would lend itself perfectly to the second smaller evening space complete with gas fire pit table and lighting. I also wanted to squeeze in some running water as background noise for this surprisingly quiet garden. A weathered corten steel water feature worked perfectly as a focal point, particularly in the evening.

The three boundaries were to be replaced with all new close board fencing complete with capping and concrete posts and gravel boards to ensure a long lifespan. The completed design now incorporated a covered dining space, new hidden shed area, evening space, level lawn and a quiet corner area of random stepping stone/chipping and planting would come complete with plank paved area for a bench.

The build itself moved very quickly, in large part due to the good access for large machinery. Once the demolition stage was complete, we began enclosing the garden with its new boundaries. The drainage issues were overcome by the inclusion of a step down from the dining space to the patio doors and evening seating area.

Porcelain tiles were chosen to follow the contemporary brief and for low porosity making cleaning easy. Although the garden had the perfect aspect, it lacked height and privacy. This was soon remedied with tall, phyllostachys aurea bamboo to screen the dining space and create a partition from the shed area.

I was also very keen to add fast growing but manageable evergreen trees to the rear boundary and far left corner. I had several ideas for the species of these trees, but my mind was made up when I left the site one day to find a fully mature loquat tree happily residing on the opposite side of the road.

We sourced and planted 4 of these beautiful plants. Their large evergreen leaves and colourful fruit would eventually make the perfect, small/medium sized, rounded trees to provide height and screening around the perimeter of the garden. Herbaceous perennials and creeping rosemary and thyme were added to the bench and stepping stone area, where footfall would create intense fragrance.

The other borders were kept small, the lawn edged with powder coated metal edging to make mowing the sharp lawn more straightforward. Sedges (carex ice dance) were used along the shadier boundaries where they would happily soak up moisture and retain their structure throughout the year.

Star jasmine climbers trained along wire rope, ceanothus shrubs and a potted olive tree underplanted with purple campanula completed the simple yet effective low maintenance scheme.

I’m looking forward to revisiting this project shortly to photograph its progression.