Location:
London
Photographer:
Dave Watts
Landscaper: Kamil Rybak / London Hard Landscapes
Plants: Provender Nurseries
When the garden was first encountered, it was very overgrown, on an awkward slope and with very little usable space. The solution was a vast metal ribbon that acts as a retaining structure and corset, curving through the space to create two lawns for family games and picnics, rich, deep beds for planting, and a wilder, forest-school-style space at the end, with a treehouse, trampoline and plenty of room for bug-hunting.
Established existing trees became anchors around which the design pivoted. A beautiful Acer palmatum became a spot height but also set the tone and palette for the dappled woodland planting, where lime greens and deep purples jostle with delicate umbels of Cenolophium denudatum and the swoosh of Hakonechloa macra. A new Ptelea trifoliata signals the entrance to the lower garden, a perfect mid-height tree to bring the more established planting into scale. The second lawn is designed for kicking balls and cartwheels, with a custom cantilevered bench for lucky spectators.
Near the house, the metal is deployed again to create terraced planting that supports a new palette of sun-loving Mediterranean species that require little water and flower throughout the summer. Salvias, Stachys and Echinops, alongside herbs such as rosemary and sage, are planted close to the house for use at supper.
