New window boxes and planter add a sharp new finish to compliment the slate tiles.
This small basement garden was designed to a strict brief. Colour was to be kept to a minimum and flowers were all but outlawed. This limited palate of green, black and white provided an exciting limitation. Our aim was to make the most out of a small basement garden, and to encourage the client to make more use of it. We took our cue from his smart interior to introduce formality and order into the garden, where tough evergreen plants now provide elegant structure. Italian cypresses help to define different areas outside, and add vertical elements bringing the eyes up towards the sky in semi-basement garden.
We installed new slate paving to the front entrance. Window boxes and a planter add life and texture.
The new containers at the front are self watering to minimise maintenance. We installed a waterbutt with integral planter in the rear garden to harvest water from the roof, along with a clever solar powered water pump which waters the containers more when there is more sun.
At the back of the rear garden we provided a seating area which is accessed from the living room and has become an extension to the home.
Rhythms are set up between planters and plants, and the colour scheme follows the smart limited palette.
To contrast with the sleek box planters, we sourced more ornate stonewear planters from the only company in Britain that still makes them traditionally.
A mixture of plain bedding plants and hardy perennials form the front window box.
The client hated the water stains left by the rain running down the wall, so under the trellis, we installed a strip to prevent this from happening, and repainted the wall.
