Hampstead Garden
The clients of this Hampstead garden had recently completed renovation work on the house and needed a garden designer to complete the picture. The conversion had modern glass sliding doors leading directly onto a cedar deck, so it was crucial that the design reflected the feel of the interior. There was also a garden office and shed at the rear that needed to be kept.
One of the most difficult aspects of the design was that the existing boundaries were such a mix of broken fence panels and ugly walls that really the entire perimeter needed screening or replacing. Tall buildings on two sides also overlooked them.
The overall design is divided into three areas, the deck, the main garden and then the office area at the rear. The existing deck felt like an add on, so I designed a built in seating area against a new rendered boundary wall that joined onto the extension, thereby anchoring the two together. The rest of the boundaries were replaced with new fencing, and the screening issue was resolved by planting Pleached Pyrus Chanticleer with a clear stem height of 2m, down part of the side panels and across the width of the garden about two thirds back. This then immediately defines the separate area where the shed and office are, and frames the space. The shed is painted a dark grey/green to help it disappear, the office is built out of cedar so ties in with the timber used for the deck.
Back to the deck, from here you step onto sawn York stone paving laid in regular rows with chamomile in between, and the design follows a long meandering curve, of planting beds and lawn, the effect is to draw you into the garden. The parallel curves are edged with clipped box to emphasize the shape, and where they end, punctuated with box balls. The planting is predominantly herbaceous, with enough shrubs and evergreen plants to allow for winter interest. There is a small cube water feature made by Urbis design in a slate colour, which matches the tall planters on the deck.
The entire garden is designed for family use, with a vegetable patch and compost area hidden behind the shed. The water feature is safe enough for a toddler and the area behind the pleached Pyrus ideal for any future climbing frames or toys they may wish to install. The garden is an oasis in the heart of a busy Hampstead road.
