The new beds disguise the original built in ‘theatre’ step and use shadow gaps to break up the bulk of the beds.
This urban garden was lacking in plants, as there was no open ground to plant anything into. Keeping plants alive in containers is becoming more difficult as climate change makes our summers hotter and drier. This is why we encourage our clients to plant directly into the earth, which is not only better for the plants but also allows water to run off directly into the soil rather than to wash down the drain. With this in mind, we encourage the use of water butts to harvest rainwater, easing the pressure on water supply and drainage.
The stepped timber beds are broken up by shadow gaps to emphasise the horizontality of the structure, in a nod to the mid-century architecture which is a passion of our client. Plants with an exotic feel were requested, hence the addition of a banana tree, canna lilies and a tetrapanax. The tetrapanax (not yet planted in these pictures) sits in the highest bed and will provide the main focal point of the garden, particularly when looked at from the kitchen. In order to keep to the “low maintenance” brief, we chose large exotics that are easy to look after to set the tone, and then complimented them with hardy plants that align visually, such as a large colourful salvia and a verbascum, along with evergreen grasses and ferns.
Our clients entertain regularly, so the table and bench were designed to be configured in various ways to maximise use.
We had to lay some paving slabs where there had been decking in certain areas. Thankfully there were enough slabs at the back to cover the area required.
Stepped beds cover and completely hide the original ‘stage’ area which must have been designed to hold pots. We increased the planting area, and added bespoke furniture to make the most of the space.
New lighting casts shadows of the lush exotic plants onto the blank end wall. We also installed festoon lighting over the side return entrance to the garden, where we planted a pink wisteria to climb around the rear wall of the house and bring more greenery into the space.
We designed and built the benches and table to work with the raised beds and the chunky exotic plants. We’re excited to see the banana, canna lillies and tetrapanax grow into the space and add height and weight.