When John and Jennie Makepeace bought Farrs, their eighteenth century honey coloured stone farmhouse in Dorset, they inherited a roughly rectangular shaped, 2-acre piece of land between high walls that was largely laid to lawn and contained very few plants.

According to John, they inherited nothing of interest apart from an old yew hedge in the front garden that had been clipped by the previous owner to resemble a huge steam train. Over the past decade, John, who is a leading furniture designer, has used his creative skills to trim the unusual piece of topiary into a more abstract shape, although it’s still possible to make out its prominent funnel.

Today, the garden in Beaminster, a picturesque village close to Lyme Regis, is spectacular and regularly opens for the National Gardens Scheme. It has been divided into four distinct areas – a formal garden running alongside the driveway at the back of the house, a lawn with topiary and two distinct spaces that reflect each of the couple’s passions; John’s is a structural, contemporary space that’s largely planted with grasses, while Jennie’s is a potager of flowers, fruit and vegetables that sits alongside an outdoor studio filled with knick knacks.

A pair of stainless steel gates lead into the front garden, where you walk under a large Phillyrea latifolia, an evergreen shrub with looks similar to an olive, to a neat lawn that runs around the west facing side of the house – the walls of the building support several choice climbers and wall shrubs, including a red-barked myrtle with heavily scented white flowers and Pileostegia viburnoides, an evergreen from Asia with elegant spear-shaped leaves and clusters of star-shaped flowers.

From late summer onwards, Farrs piece de resistance is undoubtedly John’s grass garden. Close to 50 different varieties have been planted together around an irregular shaped pond that’s planted with waterlililes. Towering Stipa gigantea ‘Gold Fontaene’ and host of different miscanthus provide height with their feathery plumes, while Stipa tenuissima, deschampsia and Luzula nivea provide texture at a lower level.

There are some gorgeous plant combinations to be found. The fluffy, light brown flowerheads of Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Cassian’s Choice’, which rise above clumps of orange autumn leaves, help to soften clumps of phormiums with their sword-shaped leaves, while the vivid foliage of Imperata cyclindrica ‘Rubra’ provides splashes of bright red among phormiums, cortaderia and Panicum virgatum ‘Rehbraun’.

A curvaceous stone pathway sweeps past the collection of grasses to a secluded, circular patio that shielded from the sun by a shade sail mounted on three large poles. There’s no need to turn round to get back into the garden. Step onto a pink steel bridge clad with strips of oak and you can cross the pond to reach a glass fronted garden room – this is used by John as a place to read or relax and contains a striking sculpture by artist Tony Heywood.

Jennie’s part of the garden is nearby. Here, the look is far more informal with a fruit cage built from green oak, a large greenhouse and raised beds planted with an assortment of vegetables. Running along the outside of this part of the garden is a exuberant border planted with rudbeckia, crocosmia, cephalaria, dahlias, cosmos and other flowers that Jennie cuts and displays indoors.

Tucked behind this large productive space is Jennie’s studio, a large building made from straw bales and a timber frame, which is heated by a wood burning stove. Inside is a hammock and items she has collected from her travels over the years, such as fossils, masks and shells.