Berkshire
We were asked to redesign and landscape a large garden in Berkshire for a client who had fairly recently put in a large swimming pool close to his large country house but had only recently started to consider the landscaping and plant the rest of the three acre garden.
Our first decision was to ‘pierce’ the extensive newly tiled pool terrace area with four large planting pits to soften the view over the pool from inside the house to the rest of the garden beyond. We planted four lovely Crategous prunifolia trees and underplanted them to provide seasonal interest transforming the whole feel and look of this key area. To the left of the pool a wide planting bed and path were added to access the dining area which was also reconfigured and repaved. The planting is a combination of some Yew and Beech domes planted withing a mix of tall grasses and perennials with additional feature trees to provide height.
We created a second sitting area with stone and gravel with gravel planting on the Eastern side of the house which became a morning sitting area. The rest of the garden to the rear of the house was lawn and planting but it did not ‘flow’ well so a number of things were done. The lawn was terraced using metal step edging punctuated with Beech ‘rocks’ in the shape of beehives to create a visual journey. The existing planting beds were reconfigured and replanted with additional trees, shrubs, perennials and grasses.
The large one acre former paddock and stables to the South East of the garden was originally fenced off from the rest of the garden creating an uncomfortable visual barrier. One of the stable buildings was removed, the fence removed and the paddock was redesigned as a woodland area with undulating grass mounds and rough meadow grass and wild flowers. Finally 300 new trees were planted, some whips and some more mature.
The front garden of the house was redesigned with new paving, Yew and Beech hedging, large planting containers and mixed planting to soften the former traditional planting scheme.
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Photography by Charlotte Rowe © Copyright
