One of my earliest projects, this was a garden of about 600m² to the rear of a large semi-detached house in a lovely wooded estate in Pyrford, near Woking. Following extensive house renovation attention was finally turned to the garden which, other than the removal of a number of very large & dominating conifers (unfortunately exposing the view to the neighbours), had been left pretty much as it was found.

The lawn was looking a little tired after relentless abuse as a football pitch and a doggy’s play area, and other than a meandering patio laid around the new kitchen extension to the rear, there was little by way of design. A rampant Wisteria was finding purchase in the roof tiling and guttering but had few options of where to go next. A dark side-return saw action only as a route through from the front of the house, and limited sunlight in this spot left few growing options.

The design developed with the client was grounded in bold geometric shapes for the lawn area and patio-side planters. This delivered on a number of benefits:-

- It created some very long, strong dimensions within the garden, adding size and scale to the site

- The raised planters created clear and obvious entry-points on to the lawn, as well as giving the patio a better sense of enclosure and comfort

- It gave clear definition to the shape of the lawn, not least for the benefit of easy mowing, but also for drawing attention to the design within the garden

- It provided clear distinction between lawn and planting areas, offering a much tidier appearance

- It created enough depth in the sunny far corner to site a summerhouse

The rather idiosyncratic mix of existing shrubs were collated and reorganised, allowing a full hedgerow of Photinia x fraserii ‘Red Robin’ to fill one curved wall of the garden; another was populated with bay trees (Laurus nobilis) which would in time fill out above the existing fenceline. A series of pleached Hornbeam trees (Carpinus betulus) were installed along the southern boundary of the garden to provide year-round screening from the neighbouring properties. Hornbeam - like beech - has a spectacular display of autumn colour and then keeps its leaves throughout winter (marcescence) until the fresh, lime-green foliage of the new season comes out of bud.

Both the newly created oak planters and pergola were stained black to match and tie in to the existing woodwork of the house. The wisteria was given a tremendously tough haircut and re-trained across the new pergola, showing just a hint the following season of the spectacular flower display that will be forthcoming. Star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) was planted to grow up and over the front of the pergola to offer a beautiful show of white flowers in summer along with a stunning fragrance to fill the new seating area.

Planting in the new flowerbeds was a mixture of trees, shrubs, evergreens, perennials and spring-flowering bulbs. Height and structure was created within the space with a beautiful Serviceberry (Amelanchier ‘La Paloma’), and key shrubs included Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Diablo’) to complement the purple-leaved cherry already in place, Arrowwood (Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’) for winter flowering & fragrance, Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ for her spectacular white pom-pom flowers, and various Pittosporum for their compact evergreenb globe shapes. Tall grasses and Verbena bonariensis created height and softness towards the back of the borders, whilst Russian Sage (Salvia yangii ‘Blue Spire’ and ‘Little Spire') provided bulk and late summer colour. Groundcover included the lovely-textured Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantina), Mexican fleabane (Erigeron karvinskanus) and various ferns such as the Alpine Wood Fern (Dryopteris wallichana) and the stunning Copper Shield Fern (D. erythrosora ‘Brilliance’).