This is a gentle renovation of a garden in South London.

My project brief was to re-purpose as much of the existing garden as possible. Crown lifting and thinning out a mature Olive tree and Japanese Maple.  The space is designed with low-maintenance, environment-friendly plants that prefer a mix of sun and shade.  The plants have architecture, colour and flowers throughout the year.  The plantings are a mix of grasses, shrubs and perennials that are predominantly evergreen.

A transformation for a garden in desperate need of some TLC.

The homeowners wanted a contemporary garden with a rustic/seaside vibe.

The industrial balcony leads from the house to the lower terraces.  One for outdoor dining and the other provides a lounging space.

The vertical and horizontal oak timbers will weather to a natural grey colour as will the ‘Hit and Miss’ Venetian fencing.

A newly completed garden in London. A fun garden design of mine with two distinct spaces.   A lower level with a circular balau wood deck and curved retaining wall wiith steps that lead to an upper level comprising a lawn, planting borders and a stone path to the garden studio.  The eco-friendly garden studio is designed by Black Cat Architects.

This courtyard has been transformed into fun outdoor room, extending the living space of this centrally located London apartment. My client wanted some low maintenance bold foliage plants, A screen to hide the not so nice view and some original artwork by Viki Lim (follow her on instagram @vanjimmer of colour with).

We used astroturf for a soft, pet friendly floor covering.

The Alley Pocket Park is a project organised by the White Rock Neighbourhood Ventures.The park is located in the Alley behind Claremont, Trinity Triangle, Hastings.

I was asked to design and plant up a user-friendly pocket park for the Alley. To provide a space for social gatherings, entertainments and also a quiet space for relaxation. All of the plantings provide year-round interest with a mix of evergreen and deciduous trees, shrubs and perennials. The plants chosen are wildlife-friendly which provide food and shelter.

The design needed to be in keeping with the industrial nature of the Alley. We used rough timbers for the seating area and large planters on wheels which provide ample room for trees and plants to flourish.

Darren French and Colleen Dawson built the first phase and Darren has built the new awning, vegetable garden and additional planters.

Lee Dyer Designed and built these fantastic new gates for the Alley entrance.

This garden had a very steep bank with difficult-awkward steps leading up to the house. We completely redesigned the garden by terracing the bank with brick and oak timbered retaining walls to provided a safe, complimentary and user-friendly set of steps up to the house. We also made sure to include wildlife-friendly planting schemes. It was very important to include a pond for the frogs, newts, stickle-back fish, bathing birds, dragonflies, foxes and badgers!

Courtyard Garden in Hastings East Sussex. A sheltered sunny courtyard a few hundred meters from the sea.  Trees planted in containers, plants for year-round interest and annual bedding plants for bursts of colour.  A place for dining and entertaining.

Garden Video

A long narrow garden in Hastings, East Sussex.  The garden needed to be low maintenance with a minimal plant palette.  Stipa tenuissima, Echinops, Geum, Sanguisorba, Alliums, Miscanthus, sedum and lavender.  The boardwalk-style pathway compensates for the sloped garden and connects with the ‘chunky’ decking next to the house. The boardwalk path leads to two raised vegetable planters, shed and compost area.  One planter is for growing beans that also camouflages the tin shed.  The other is a large raised planter to make gardening easier.  Oak timbers were used for the planters and chunky treated timbers for the boardwalk.   The fence along the path is painted black which is an excellent backdrop for the plants.

This 200ft garden in the heart of London is an oasis for the homeowner and one very special black cat.  It is also home to the abundant wildlife who find places to nest, roost and play.

The homeowner and I have worked together for many years refining, pruning, shaping and adding new plantings to this lovely garden.

A complete garden makeover and redesign. Including the renovation of a pool house, pool area, lawns, gardens, a new greenhouse and vegetable garden. Near Battle, East Sussex

The brief for this London garden was that it be wildlife-friendly but also offer a fun yet practical space for the homeowners. We repurposed many on-site materials. Making sure that storage, a compost area and a place for the washing line was all fitted into the design.

Plants include the lovely Amelanchier and a multi-stem Silver Birch. The Silver Birch alone can support up to 250 species of birds and insects. Other plantings include a mix of evergreen and herbaceous plants. The circular wildlife pond has a crescent-shaped beach area for smaller creatures to use the pond too.

This garden was planted late autumn 2018.

Hard landscaping installed by Phil Franklin and his team. Phil Franklin Landscapes

A selection of projects from large estate gardens to small rooftop terraces here in the UK and the USA.

A place to sit and relax, admire a view or enjoy a summer lunch, this is an essential component of the garden design.