This was a recently refurbished, modern bungalow with roof extension in Hayes Village, Kent with lovely views over the Common.
Brief:
The owners had recently completed extensive renovations and additions to the property and wanted to bring the gardens up to the same high standards and to provide a beautiful space in which to relax and entertain.
Solution:
Originally there was a brick-built pergola, which, when clothed in leafy climbers provided some privacy to the side boundary, however when that was removed the garden would be completely overlooked to the side. To overcome that we planted a combination of pleached trees and Pencil Cypresses to break up the fence-line and afford some privacy to the side of the garden from passers-by and neighbours across the road. The advantage of pleached trees is that they do not encroach into the garden as other, untrained, trees would. They also allowed scope for other interesting planting beneath.
A new pond was built with an organic shape and slightly raised. It was constructed using some of the water-riven limestone the owners already had on site and the same stone was then used to create a natural-looking waterfall. The whole construction was then softened and made to look more natural with planting.
The owners wanted a fairly traditional style of garden, with curvaceous beds and lawns and they had a lot of existing planting and favourite plants that they had brought from their previous home, many of which we were able to incorporate into the new scheme. The completed new planting provides plenty of colour and year-round interest, including Alliums, Anemones, Callicarpa, Cardoons, Cistus, Crocosmia, Fatsia, Forsythia, Fuschias and Heleniums. Flower arranging was a hobby and therefore suitable flower and foliage planting was included for this. We also put in some herbs and perfumed plants, especially near seating areas and entrances and we left some space for the owners to do some of their own annual planting.
Finally, we added underwater lights to the pond to provide a focal point in the garden at night.
