Coastal Garden Bude

This amazing water bowl was the finishing touch to the coastal garden at Bude, and acts as a beautiful sculptural piece within the planting.

 

 

 

The fantastic summer weather has really helped the plants to thrive...

 

 

 So many of the plants are encouraging wildlife within the garden to thrive as well!

New Build Garden

 

This new build garden had a real problem with drainage.  The ground was clay, baked hard by the sun and then completely waterlogged when wet.  The garden had had turf seed sown but the conditions would not allow a lawn to develop. 

 

 

The garden was also a blank canvas, with no features or planting at all.

 

Two patio areas were separated by a drainage channel, and one was raised slightly.  A soakaway was also added.

 

The clients wanted a seating space with some raised beds and to integrate a water feature brought from their last home.

 

The raised timber beds create the herb garden that the client was keen to have,

 

 

as well as a good green area of lawn, which was also raised slightly to help with the drainage.

 

Trellis was used to hide a unsightly wall along the back garden boundary.  The garden is a real hotspot of a suntrap,  and the existing raised beds and new borders were filled with Lavender, Day Lilies, Hebes, Crocosmia, and Nepeta amongst many other plants suitable for such a sunny spot.

 

The garden is not large but has now been transformed from a scrubby patch into a garden with different areas for seating, a herb garden, lawn, with space to walk around and through the gardens' spaces.  

 

 

 

Coastal Garden, Bude

The design for the coastal garden at Bude....the aim, to make the most of the lawn, add to the planting with new borders, replace the overgrown hedges, and create different seating areas within the garden.

 

The garden before work started was dominated by a poor quality lawn.  It had no planting borders and was enclosed by huge overgrown hedges of diseased Escallonia and blocky conifers. 

 

 

 

The client wanted a good quality lawn, with new areas of interest through planting, and paving, with some sculptural features. 

 

The garden cleared and areas being defined....

 

 

A sculptural circular seat/viewing platform to make the sea views more accessible...with inbuilt slate steps.

 

 

The tumbled granite sett edging for the borders, with the new sculptural fencing behind framing and screening the garden....

 

 

Steel edging for the lawn to give a crisp, clean and contemporary look....

 

The plants going in....

 

The finished lawn is a half circle and maximises the space in this long elongated garden....

 

 

A patio of slate crazy paving works well with the sculptural timber and organic curving lines of the borders and lawn.....

 

 

The stone faced viewing platform/seat is enclosed by a curving sculptural screen of spaced timber uprights,

 

 

with planting in front...

 

 

The planting is a mix of Mediterranean and coastal planting in the hot and sunny borders...

with some soft woodland style planting for the bank and borders in the shade of the wooded area behind the garden.

 

 

This area is now a fantastic sunny space for relaxing or entertaining, surrounded by beautiful and vibrant planting.  I can't wait to see how the borders develop over the summer - more photos to follow progress later in the season.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Woodland Border

An additional border has been created and planted up around the back of the pool in the Woodland Garden near Blisland.  It has been planted with some shrubs but mainly ground cover plants, with foliage and flowers that give all year round interest and will give colour and light to shady spots....

The white Bleeding Hearts or Dicentra, gives a shady spot brightness...

 

 

as does the Wood Spurge, Euphorbia amygdaloides...

 

 

and the forget-me-not 'Jack Frost'...

 

 

the foliage of Hellebores, Skimmia and ferns all add interest...

 

 

 

Spring Colour

I love this time of year, especially in my own garden.  It's amazing how just a few colourful plants, blossoms, and foliage can transform a garden....

Tulips caught by the sun in a shady corner...

The early blossom of  the Amelanchier tree...

Periwinkle in a shady corner is fantastic for providing colour and interest....

 

The lovely blossom and woody frame of Quince....

 

 

A Contemporary Cottage Garden at Blisland

The front garden at Blisland has now been completely transformed.  The design includes an enclosed slate seating area within the garden, with raised beds for lavender and herbs.

 

There were three natural levels within the garden that were utilised to create the top garden area and two lower grass terraces. 

The client wanted simple curving lines, and low maintenance planting. 

 

 

The mulch of slates paddlestones will cut down on weeds, means less planting is needed and what planting there is is shown off to greater effect.

 

This whole area had been just a dirt and weed patch.  It is now a very beautiful and useable contemporary cottage garden.

 

Walled Garden, Gerrans

This is a new design for a lovely old walled garden in Gerrans which needs completely renovating.  

The garden currently consists of a rectangular lawn and planting bed with a narrow terrace running along the house.

The design aims to create a beautiful space with more usable seating and different areas or 'rooms' for the family.  The client wanted curves and colour, with low maintenance coastal planting in blues, purples, lime greens and mauves.

Woodland Garden North Cornwall

The recent dry and sunny weather enabled good progress to be made with the Woodland Garden near Blisland.

The aim of the design was to create a garden in keeping with its setting, that was natural, beautiful  and somewhere for the clients to spend time in.

A central circular and curved sweeping lawns make what is quite a narrow space seem much more spacious.  Bark paths are in keeping with the setting, and sculptural stone uprights act as a gateway to the lower part of the garden.

A large tree fern and pond were already there but hidden away in the undergrowth, so two more ferns were added to complete the look along with planting suitable for a shady and damp site.

The garden had been completely overgrown and almost hidden away, with difficult drainage problems.   This is before any work was undertaken...

 

and after...an absolute transformation

 

 

 

'before' looking back up the garden...

 

 

and after....

 

 

the new tree ferns...

 

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a timber screen provides privacy, and a backdrop for the whole garden as well as screening  off a very useful compost and working area behind...

 

 

spring woodland planting by the pond

 

 

 

It will be exciting to see the planting fill out and establish as the season progresses....more pictures to follow later in the year.