Very busy recently – as usual – with some lovely new work to tax my design skills. There is a Manor house in my work queue which I’m looking forward to starting. Meantime, here is a new garden design that is currently on my drawing board for a pretty house in Goring, Berkshire. My clients bought the house next door so my job has been to amalgamate both plots to not only look fabulous throughout the seasons but provide shelter, various entertaining spaces & great sight lines…
…& here is an axonometric sketch of how it might look.
The pool becomes the main focal point to work from all angles & due to the change in levels the wide retaining walls become seating which will be rather nice – particularly when my clients are having a party. I’ve used evergreen topiary domes again as they always look fantastic & there is a sunken parterre in what was originally the garden next door. Instead of the central tree there will now be a sunken fire pit which will be smart & ensure this portion of the garden gets lots of use.
There’s an open sided summerhouse as a focal point too which will be another place to sit & enjoy a different perspective out of the rain & sun. A working area is hidden behind a pair of gates & there will be a door in the wall that actually leads nowhere but looks interesting… Always fun to add elements like that.
A recent site visit to Henley was great – here is a before & after of the entrance courtyard. What a difference!! Great work Tom & team @ TS Landscapes.
Below is part of the back garden looking beautiful with the wonderful pleached trees & Hydrangea ‘Strong Annabelle’ looking sensational. There’s a swimming pool to go in the garden beyond this in the next phase which will certainly be required if this incredible heat persists.
Our Cotswold courtyard garden here in Hardwick has been great in this extreme heat. We are south facing so I planted 4 huge acers to create structure & much needed shade – thank goodness I did as with temps hovering around 30 degrees for several weeks now I think the house would have been a furnace! It was my husband’s birthday last week so we had a family do beneath the trees which was great. I put bunting up for the event. Amazing note – that with four under elevens & four dogs nobody ended up in the pool 😉
We have pigeons nesting in the trees who are making such a mess leaving twigs & poo everywhere. They have also taken a liking to our pig on the water wall… I grabbed this quick shot I thought looked amusing & finally I was up at 3am this morning so I went down to see if the heron was visiting – he comes to steal fish. He was not thankfully but I just thought how pretty it looked in the moonlight with the spouts lit up too…
All for now. Til next time
