Kensington Garden

This garden in Kensington belonged to a busy family who had always been meaning to design their garden, but just never found the time. The clients had seen my work in a magazine, and were keen to find a designer who would design and project manage the entire job with minimal input from them. The brief was to accommodate plenty of entertaining space with a separate area for the teenagers, enough lawn for a marquee and to keep the summerhouse.

The design was very simple, keeping the house as the main focus around the patio, with a large lawn and simple borders. It is contemporary in the choice and selection of materials, but has a more traditional planting style with predominantly herbaceous borders. Screening the large brick building at the rear was key to the design working as it dominated the view. We achieved this with a row of tall pleached Hornbeams that screen and soften with deep planting beds underneath. All the boundary fencing needed replacing, which immediately tied the garden together, and will soon be covered in rambling climbers. There are a few areas within the garden to sit and reflect, and this in turn draws you around the garden.

The main patio was designed as the hub of the family home, and has a strong symmetrical feel that helps anchor the house in the landscape. The materials used are sawn York stone cut to bespoke dimensions and Iroko timber for the floating benches. The whole area is separated from the rest of the garden by 80cm high rendered walls with planting beds, which create a soft and colourful screen. There are 2 long floating iroko benches that hug the walls and allow for ample seating space. There is a wide opening in the centre, flanked on either side with Prunus Kanzan, and long strips of paving bedded into the lawn merge the 2 areas.

The overall colour scheme is restrained, with purple, magenta and white forming the main palette. All the furniture was chosen to reflect the contemporary style of the patio, and the cushions were made separately with waterproof fabric.

The finished design in this Kensington garden has immediately transformed an otherwise unused space into a place where the family can now get together at the end of a tough week to unwind and relax.