Cottage garden in the Chilterns

The owner of this charming cottage in Chiltern hills of Buckinghamshire wanted to make some major changes to her garden previously it was mainly laid to lawn with a centrally located stepping stone path leading to an outbuilding/garage. There was both a shed and a greenhouse dominating the view down the garden and a few trees and shrubs.

The owner wanted a garden which she could enjoy, use and nurture but as she runs a successful business, she did not want an inordinately high maintenance garden which dominated her leisure time. She certainly did not want a lawn to look after but as it is a country garden is a tiny village, she did not want a garden which was urban and out of keeping with the surrounding landscape. She also wanted three areas for sitting and relaxing at different ends of the day and was keen to have good lighting.

The design solution was to keep the foot print of the existing terrace area close to the house, increasingly it slightly in depth and creating two other sitting areas one in stone and one in gravel  linked by a path through large blocks of planting in other parts of the garden to encourage broader use of the space

The very sunny main terrace area close to the house, which has the advantage of capturing the midday sun, was re-paved in Indian sandstone surrounded by raised beds in limewashed rendered blockwork planted with Mediterranean plants such as santolina, lavander and rosemary.

"The client wanted a country cottage garden without lawn. The solution was to create a journey through a range of different flower beds..."