A garden of levels
The owners of this garden contacted me because they didn’t know what to do with their steeply sloping site. They needed a fresh perspective and a design that could be built in stages. During my initial consultation, I could see the garden needed softening and rationalising, so I discussed this with the client and then produced the design you can see below. My clients response to the design was so positive, and they didn’t want to make any alterations. Happy clients mean happy designer!
This is certainly a garden on a slope! The front and back gardens are on multiple levels and this can feel like a real problem to clients. For this part of the garden, my design includes replacing the turf with gravel to make it much easier to manage - no more lugging the lawn mower up and down the steps!
There was a lot of fairly imposing hard landscaping and steps everywhere. The view from the house was of this dark wall, which also made the upper level narrow. As it caught the sun and was a place to sit and relax, I wanted to make a real feature of the space. A combination of reducing the wall height and replacing it with a glass balustrade, removing a flight of steps, using a pale colour cement and big planters for trees and plants, should really make this a light and comfortable space my clients can enjoy.
My clients had recently had some remodelling in their house, making it more spacious and contemporary. My design reflects this, particularly at the front. All the turf is replaced with gravel and planting - larger boarders of low maintenance shrubs deal with the slopes in a far more cost effective way than levelling the ground. Extending the new contemporary paving, and removing unnecessary level changes, increases the feeling of space.
Soft, contemporary planting for the courtyard garden at the front. As well as being beautiful, it’s also pretty low maintenance.
My clients wanted some screening and this is one of the options. A multi stem Amelanchier lamarckii, a gentle tree giving seasonal interest throughout the year, it interrupts to site line without blocking it completely.