Once a vegetable garden in another life, this area in the second half of the garden had nothing in it other than a summerhouse storing garden tools and a pile of garden waste at the bottom it. It was unloved and the owners did not venture further than the existing part of the garden other than to mow the grass. The client was retiring and wanted somewhere to go and have a beer and a barbecue and generally relax. The area was long and thin but bordered onto open farmland, so a small field gate was put at the bottom giving the illusion that you could journey further. A ‘borrowed’ landscape is a garden design trick that gives a feeling of ownership and links the garden to its surrounding area.
A random rectangular sandstone path and paved area, which the summerhouse was relocated to, was set at 45 degrees so that everything runs along the diagonal. This simple trick magically makes any long thin garden look much bigger as it concentrates on the longest axis.
A pergola and rose arch were made by a local blacksmith from wrought iron and left untreated so that they would rust naturally, and blend with the plants that were to be trained up them. A beehive urn was used as a water feature to give the gentle sound of water by the terrace.
Planting was dominated by two multi stemmed Prunus serrula thibetica with beautiful shiny mahogany-coloured bark and these acted as a foil for the planting of coppery pink Rosa x odorata ‘Mutabilis’ and the deep burgundy of Panicum ‘Shenandoah’ to name just a few of the plants in the scheme.