Garden for Plant Lovers

The brief

To create a cottage garden full of plants, including fruit and vegetables for the couple to garden and to relax and also to form an attractive entrance to their home.  The garden was also to be good for wildlife.

Problems to overcome

The garden is to the front of the property so lacked privacy. The garden was separated by an historic driveway.

The design solution

The garden was designed on angles, taken from the bay windows of the house, to offer both visual depth to the wide but shallow garden and to connect the garden with the house. 

The lawn was replaced with planted borders, a seating area, a patio and gravel paths - all which add interest to the garden. The patio and the edging to the borders were constructed in Vande Moortel clay pavers, which toned in beautifully with the boundary brick wall and the buff sandstone of the house, and added a feeling of unity. 

A planting scheme including a slightly reshaped existing large border, was created to offer year-round interest through layering in time and space of bulbs, herbaceous perennials, and shrubs beneath the existing mature trees. The new borders were planted in September 2018 and the existing border was revamped and replanted in Summer 2019. 

The clients built and planted the garden themselves based on the plans created by Rachel Bailey Garden Designs.