Set in a rural village this garden was made for a couple who wanted a place for outdoor dining that would blend seamlessly into the countryside.
The garden has been enclosed by a beautiful woven split hazel fence made by local craftsman Tim Radford; this traditional form of fencing sits beautifully within the local landscape. A matching screen cunningly hides the boiler and a charming arched gate leads out of the garden into the lane.
The hard landscaping materials of oak and Indian sandstone gracefully compliment the timber framed house. To move from one to another Chris designed two bespoke floating oak steps that allow air to flow around the base plate of the house. These have been underplanted with ferns.
The sculptural oak pergola was built in situ by Chris using green oak posts and hazel poles. An integrated bench provides permanent seating with a view to the surrounding countryside. The hazel poles wind and weave their way around the structure providing climbing poles for Clematis. A set of ten specially commissioned terra cotta pot lights were made for the pergola by Chris Eves these have been hand decorated with unique gold interior patterns.
The planting scheme is low maintenance and has a high proportion of evergreens. Two existing twisted hornbeams guard the boundary, these are underplanted with a variety of ferns and Galium oderatum (Lady’s Bedstraw). Three different varieties of ground cover Thyme will form low mounds in between the cobbles and the lawn, in the summer these will be a haze of pink and white flowers. A bamboo screen disguises the oil tank and has been underplanted with oriental style ground cover. On the countryside boundary grasses hide the chain link fence so that the garden appears to extend into the field beyond.
