BIG ON STYLE
Winner of the Large Residential Award, Helen Elks-smith describes how she introduced a mix of terraces, trees and meadows to create this dream garden scheme for a family of four
This is a large garden of three acres, and we wanted to make sure the clients could manage looking after it, so we introduced big meadow areas. There are pictorial meadows by the drive, which look good from June to September, and native wildflower meadows that run from the front and around the side to the back, like a big thread.
The hard landscaping materials for the terraces and paths were chosen based on those of the house – orange brick and a cool white render. We needed something that sat well with both and brought them together, and York stone did that nicely.
Ornamental grasses, such as Stipa gigantea and Sesleria autumnalis, are repeated throughout the planting schemes. This connects the different areas, creating cohesion, so it doesn’t feel as though there are formal garden rooms with hard divisions.
Previously, there was a tarmac drive that lead to the front door that severed the connection with the landscape. There is a change in level around the house, which meant we could add in planting where the ground fell away. The drive sits further out now, and because it is lower you see out over the top.
Along the edge of the lawn, there were lots of variegated and exotic shrubs, which were masking the native woodland beyond. We took them out, and planted native trees like field maple, silver birch, hawthorn and oak. On this site, with the tall trees all around and the ground rising up, planting smaller trees brings things down to a human scale and stops it feeling like a fortress.