A country estate - gardens within a garden
Designed on the theme of gardens within a garden, a tradition of celebrated gardens such as Sissinghurst and Hidcote.
This four acre site was developed from scrubland over a number of years. The brief was to design formal gardens around a new house with informal areas extending towards the boundaries. Designed on the theme of gardens within a garden, a tradition of celebrated gardens such as Sissinghurst and Hidcote, the first area to be landscaped was a new pond where soil removed from the pond was used to sculpture the surrounding banks, blending into the ancient woodland and to sustain a wild flower meadow.
The rear of the property was initially put to grass and then a lavender walkway, stone terrace, rose garden, box garden, and grass and perennial garden developed over time. The property is adjacent to a fishing pond and grasses were used to great effect to create hedges which blend with the view beyond and yet provide vertical structure to the area close to the house. The ornamental grass hedge separates the entertaining area from a lawn and autumn border.
A contemporary bamboo garden was later designed and built outside the library, which incorporates a floor maze, steel mobiles, geometric sculptures and secluded curved seating. Additional garden areas include a potager, knot garden and front entrance courtyard.