CHOOSING MATERIALS

Materials were chosen to be very soft and to fit as part of the landscape. Local Kent clay paviours were laid in a herringbone pattern on the paths and jointed with sand to allow water through and self-seeders to colonise the cracks. The paths are Breedon gravel, both in its classic fine form and also as a larger angular gravel to vary the texture and create some spatial hierarchy to lead the way through the garden. The avenue trees are field grown from Hilliers in Hampshire. Oak is used throughout to weather and last, and to complement the larch cladding on the new extension. The oak pieces by artist Alison Crowther look very comfortable in the setting and form part of the spirit of woodland and water that Robyn wanted to bring back to the ra neglected site she stumbled upon all those years ago.