Hill Farm was originally two humble cottages built for the farm workers. The house sits in the middle of a two-acre plot with views over the Surrey Hills. The surrounding land consisted of mostly meadows, a small orchard and some large mature trees but with no structure. After several years of work a garden has emerged, retaining all these features and the intrinsic nature of the site. By using trees, hedging and planting beds on the steeper slopes, distinct garden areas have been created, including a wildlife pond, which are all connected with natural pathways to complete a journey around the garden.

Secluded Garden for restorative relaxation

Set in beautiful woodland in a quiet corner of the North Downs my clients had been considering how to make their garden more inviting for restorative relaxation as well as family dining and entertaining.

With sloping lawns sweeping away from the house, the focal point of the new design is a circular Purbeck stone fire pit built with cantilevered inset stone seats and approached through generous planting via curved brick paths. An additional space, cocooned by bold structural planting, provides space for family dining and a small intimate seating area a shady retreat for those quiet moments.

Challenged by an unusual underground cavern which adjoined the house at an oblique angle an additional entertaining area was created using Millboard decking with a unique curved seat design to link this area to the house and the rest of the garden. Simple decorative screens offer privacy from the drive.

The addition of a wide range of planting for every season instantly created interest for both my clients and visiting pollinators.

The challenge here was to create a garden to complete a project to sympathetically enhance the exterior of the property .The clients had a vision of an arts and craft style design composing of different spaces to be viewed from the expansive kitchen windows with seating areas for drinks and dining whilst also crucially linking access routes between the house, drive, shed and annex. Stone paths are linked together via a circular focal point of setts and Chelmer Valley Cottage Garden bricks. Generous herbaceous planting pockets with Pittosporum balls for structure will soon billow over the paths to soften the scheme. In addition a new woodland garden was created to draw the eye and encourage further exploration.

The Garden Cottage sits on a steeply graded plot with extensive views over the Pippbrook Valley to Ranmore .The original garden had a wonderful weathered feel to it with crumbling walls and well stocked beds. However the existing patio provided very awkward sitting areas, much of the views were obscured by built structures and the client wanted more colour in the garden throughout the whole year. With careful reshaping of the patio and using materials sympathetic to the original site we were able to create new inviting seating areas where now the church on the distant horizon can be seen on Ranmore. Working with the existing contours and framing these areas with soft planting, shrubs and bulbs to bring interest throughout the year, the views from the garden have been enhanced.

Lying at the foothills of Box Hill the existing level rectangular plot, whilst providing some space for a young family to run around in, lacked interest to stimulate young imaginations. The inherited patio was also in urgent need of attention. We created a wooden deck across the back of the house with a separate dining area and room for the children to play. The sweeping timber steps now lead you into the garden where a pergola walkway guides you towards a grassy mound. Winding brick paths were built around the garden on which the children can ride their bikes. A small wildflower meadow and orchard with cherry and fruit trees offers a secluded spot for the tree house and a silver birch glade was used to conceal the swings and slide area. The side of the workshop provides a save haven for habitat boxes and allows shelter for a small vegetable plot. As the family grow up all these spaces can work in different ways whilst still retaining the structure of the flowing lines.

With children having flown the nest this client had an opportunity to beautifully renovate and extend this substantial house, set in one of the most picturesque and romantic villages in Surrey. The client wanted to create an intimate secluded garden in order to relax and unwind at the end of a busy day. At the rear of the house there was an old courtyard with outbuildings, which, although somewhat neglected, retained much of the property’s character with unusual black cobbles. We used these cobbles to create a new courtyard allowing access to the outbuildings and added a small seating area to enjoy an early morning coffee in the sun, all softened with planting. In the front garden we created a secluded gravel garden with a curved path taking you on a journey from the patio doors through the interlocking circular spaces. Local blacksmiths designed ironwork structures throughout the garden to add height and screening and these were planted with scented climbing roses that will eventually clothe the seating areas and arch over the garden gate.

My clients had moved into this substantial house following its build as part of a new housing development and had a very clear vision about transforming the garden to create seclusion, some intimate seating areas protected from the wind and practical areas to develop their fledging interest in growing their own fruit, herbs and vegetables whilst also incorporating elements of their Indian heritage.

During and post lockdown many of us had to adapt to home working and sharing our spaces with the whole family. The redesign of this garden was to include a small studio to house a personal gym and a shady pergola dining space to enjoy sitting in the garden out of the glare of the midday sun. Linking these two areas together with structural planting and pockets of colour add interest all year round.

With magnificent views over to the North Downs previous owners had created this garden with love and horticultural expertise over many years. With new owners at the helm with a young family, the challenge was to incorporate a swimming pool and tennis court into the existing framework of geometric paths and topiary and then to blend these areas into the existing planting schemes whilst also adding vibrant colour combinations.

Always popular is a space to grow vegetables, herbs and cut flowers. In order to thrive this needs to be situated in the sunniest part of the garden and if possible close to the house. With wide gravel paths flowing through the garden to allow access all around the cut flower beds and raised vegetable beds this area doubles up as a sunny and relaxing place to sit.

Surrounded by Espalier apple trees and bordered with low lavender hedging the different areas can be used for growing all your favourites.

This garden provided a number of challenges not least the drop in height from the top of the garden to the house. Being mindful of their advancing years and reduced mobility the clients needed a garden that had usable levels, sufficient space to comfortably entertain family and friends at the ground level and screening from a neighbouring newly built property. We used beautiful buff sawn York stone for the patio and wide curved steps leading up to all the levels with complimentary setts on the gentle ramp providing access to the intermediate level and lawn.

Using curved brick retaining walls we created a garden theatre with yew hedging, flowering shrubs and brightly stemmed Acers as a dramatic backdrop. The pleached hornbeam trees along the boundary provided the perfect side screen. All the planting needed to be very easy to maintain and to work all year round so we used flowering shrubs including Nandina domestica and Rhododendron Percy Wiseman, and an abundance of ground cover to reduce the amount of weeding required.

Sometimes an existing garden has an area that has been forgotten or left untouched for some time. This can sometimes provide an opportunity to introduce a new perspective to the garden whilst still retaining an atmosphere of mystery and wilderness and preserving all the habitats for wildlife.

The meadow grass was left to grow long in the summer allowing wildflowers to grow and an abundance of bulbs and woodland edge plants were positioned where the dappled sunlight falls in the spring. A pond was also built to encourage wildlife. A simple woodland walk was created by introducing sweeping mown grass paths and wood and bark steps , punctuated by simple curved oak benches.