A beautiful family garden
Guildford, Surrey
This is a small/medium sized (300m²) garden to the rear of a detached family house in the suburbs of Guildford. The existing layout had little other than a paved utility area in the darkest corner (used only for storing BBQ equipment), a few flowerbeds interjecting into the space, and a patio next to the house whose decking was failing badly following years of abuse by the teenage son and his basketball:-
The clients felt that in line with a renovation of the main patio by the house they would welcome a redesign of the whole space.
There were two main challenges presented by the mature oak tree towards the rear of the garden and a tall conifer hedge at the very back. Firstly, growing conditions in that zone were seriously tough due to competition for water, light and nutrients; in this case it meant forsaking some of the poor lawn for non-vegetative ground cover that would not interfere with the tree’s health. Secondly, the shadow cast by the oak tree at different times of the day / times of the year meant that we had to position new flowerbeds and seating areas with care.
There are many other considerations that went into the design, not least the creation of a bold, definitive shape to the lawn that would give the design some gravity and ‘hold’ the design in place. It’s useful in smaller gardens to have the shaping somewhat abstracted from the normal fencelines of the plot so that the design doesn’t start and end with those boundaries; instead the focus is retained within the garden itself.
Three differing layouts were presented to the client. The first design had a lovely flowing movement based around a circular motif, which in trun created interesting shaped beds and brought back into play the quarter-circle paved patio at the rear. The second design featured very geometric, square patterns which tied patio into pathways alongside rectangular planting beds. The third design took a more angular approach, creating more movement up the garden and longer dimensions for the lawn.
After a number of edits and adjustments, it was the last of these designs that was taken forward for building. The apple tree towards the shed was given a hard pruning & reshaping to open out the right-hand side of the garden. After removing old planting beds and paving, frost-hardy bricks were laid edge-on to define the borders of the lawn and to create a practical mowing strip. Bespoke planters were built in situ, although despite my recommendations to create a stunning & aromatic floral display it’s still being used for tomatoes…
The choice of Indian sandstone from the main patio was repeated halfway up the garden to create a cosy seating area. This spot captures the evening sun beneath one of the most beautiful hawthorn trees I have ever seen.
A stepping stone pathway adds a new route within the garden. Smooth stone infill between the pavers sits comfortably flat and is less likely to be kicked up into the lawn or the flowerbeds.
Even with the creation of new planting borders and more space given over to flowerbeds, the design keeps the feel of a wide-open lawn and a beautifully shaped garden.
