The clients design brief was for the garden to reflect the style of the house, incorporating plants with fragrance and a simple colour theme. The house is a single story Victorian terrace with a contemporary extension at the back.

There was very little in the existing front garden that was worth keeping except for a beautiful, mature Magnolia soulangeana. With this as a starting point, and the charm of the house, the design took on a formal feel, using bluestone for pathways and edging, blending with the bluestone footings of the house.

The planting is lush and predominantly green with hedge plantings of Buxus sempervirens, Osmanthus fragrans, Gardenia florida and Lavandula angustifolia. A row of Acer ‘Sengu Kaki’ (Coral barked Maple) underplanted with Hyrangea macrophylla and Helleborus orientalis alba, soften the side of the house. The Acer ‘Sengu Kaki’ were chosen for the way their stunning coral coloured branches blended with the reds in the house.

Despite the fullness of the garden, it is relatively low maintenance, requiring only seasonal attention of pruning mulching and feeding. (seasonal being once per season)

The rear courtyard is quite a stark comparison to the front garden. The design emphasis is on structure and space, surface texture and colour. Elements of stone, concrete and timber have been married together to produce a striking and functional space.

Porters Paints were used on all the rendered surfaces. The ‘OxBlood’ red was chosen to blend with the red in the brick of the original part of the house. The sand colour chosen as a contrast. To tie the red in with the paving red polished Indo pebbles were randomly set into the exposed aggregate surface.

The main planting feature in the back is the pair of espaliered olives, reflecting the client’s Italian heritage. While it softens the sandy coloured rendered wall, the structure blends well with the contemporary courtyard.