Synopsis
This garden was a bit of a junkyard when the owners bought the property and it hadn’t been looked after for many years. It was an overgrown mess with weeds and vines, but there was an old apple tree in the middle of the garden. The owners Allan Malvar and David Finlayson commissioned Karen Rogers of KR Garden Design to design a functional space which would have lush greenery as well as a variety of flowering plants and that had areas for relaxing and dining. They had a wish list of items to be included: a barbecue, a fireplace, a water feature and a storage for bikes (not to mention space for a washing line). Given the size of the space it was an impossible task to fit it all in! They did finally compromise on the bike storage, but Karen delivered on all fronts and the small shed can even fit the children’s bikes. Karen included a pleached Malus ‘Golden Delicious’ tree in one corner as a nod back to the previous garden.
Large sliding glass doors open the kitchen/dining area of the house out onto the garden both areas of which are paved in porcelain Senna White 750cm sq tiles. The brief also had to incorporate space for toy storage for the owners 2 young children so Karen designed pull out draws on wheels under the bench seating.
A peninsular of planting projects out into the middle of the space to create division between the dining area and the fireplace with it’s adjacent floating bench seating. The planting here is dominated by Acer palmatum ’Bloodgood’ with Stipa tenuissima, Salvia nemorosa ’Caradonna’ and geranium ‘Anne Thomson’. The border beds enclosing the garden are hedged with low rise Ilex crenata and Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’ and Trachelopsermum jasminoides and the high pleached hornbeams at the back of the beds make the garden especially private and cosy. A water feature made from a simple copper bowl and copper pipe is placed centrally along one side and provides a gently trickling flow of water as a soothing backdrop to a dinner or a glass of wine by the fireplace.
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