A floral haven

Cranleigh, Surrey

This garden was presented as a lovely proportioned, family garden to the rear of a modern, detached house close to the heart of Cranleigh in Surrey. The owners already had a keen interest in gardening so had many great plant specimens including - amongst others - many azaleas, pittosporum and hydrangeas.

However, the rear of the garden was dominated by three very mature oak trees which sapped the life (water/nutrients) out of the surrounding soil and dumped a harvest of acorns every year. Thankfully they were on the north-east border of the space so at least did not limit the available light through to brighten up the garden.

The clients were keen to ‘design over’ the worst part of the lawn that continually competed with the worst offending oak tree. They were also due to replace a failing shed with a summerhouse so wanted that positioned in a suitable place in the lawn. And finally, one of their neighbours had a trampoline up against the fence which our clients were keen to screen out.

From a design perspective the lawn had little shape to it and ran up to a very angular wall alongside the pathway at the back of the house. Other than being difficult to mow around, this served only to emphasise the shape of the adjoining pathway and brought unnecessary focus onto the conservatory extension at the back of the house. The last main issues to contend with were two small sets of access steps led to the edge of the garden… but no further.

So with all this in mind a couple of different layout designs were created to bring shape and attention back into the garden, adding pathways into and around the space, and allowing for new planting beds to soften the transition from the patio. The preferred choice followed a very circular motif that fed the shape of the lawn, of the pathways, and a new focal point (water feature) central to the left-hand space. Having new planting areas closer to the house not only accommodated many of the plants currently sat in pots waiting for their ‘forever home’, but also brought much more of the planting literally within touching distance where it could be enjoyed up close.

The client engaged their own landscaper to help with the transition and - as you can judge by her own pictures here of the end result - they did a fantastic job.