THE SECRET GARDEN Alive with verdant planting and rustic pieces, a small courtyard is welcoming and functional
This enclosed courtyard garden is a triumph of vibrant colour, lush planting and abundant greenery – and not a blade of grass in sight
When the gate swings open into Nic Howard’s courtyard garden, there’s a heightened sense of anticipation as a delightful living space is revealed, alive with beautiful plants and original furnishings. ‘If you have a small garden, you have to make every centimetre count. And I really love that challenge,’ says Nic. It was in 2011 that Nic first saw Little Orchards, the Edwardian cottage in Outwood, Surrey, that’s now his home. He was attracted by the long boundary brick wall and potential to create a fully enclosed courtyard by building a new stretch of curving wall connecting to the cottage and driveway. ‘That’s what sold me the house – I’d always longed for a walled garden,’ he recalls.
But despite being a garden designer who’s undertaken many demanding projects over the years, he found his own garden to be the most difficult. ‘It’s because I like so many different styles and plants, so I had to identify my natural, inherent approach and stay true to that,’ he explains.
Though Nic loves modern design, with its clean lines and minimalist approach, he decided not to opt for it in his garden. ‘I’d have eventually become bored with it,’ he says. Instead, he went for a more timeless look, melding contemporary styling with elements of shabby chic, such as a weathered dining table and assorted chairs.
A PASSION FOR PLANTS
The garden unfolds as a series of linked, eyecatching spaces that create lovely views when framed by the kitchen or sitting room windows. ‘I look out on the courtyard, so it’s important to have something worth looking at all year round,’ explains Nic. Lawn is banished in favour of Kota Blue limestone, leaving more room for abundant, textural planting, with a subtle colour palette of greens and whites in the shadier areas and pops of colour in sunny spots.
There’s no doubting Nic’s passion for plants. ‘A perfect garden appears effortless, but it’s no lucky accident – you have to attend to
the smallest of details, and above all cherish the plants,’ he believes. ‘And in such a limited space, every one has to earn its keep.’
Among his many prized specimens are a fiendishly spiny, redberried, broad-leaved cockspur thorn and a winter-flowering cherry ‘Autumnalis Rosea’. ‘It starts blossoming in November and looks gorgeous all winter long.’ At the base of its trunk are ‘Garnet’ penstemons, a dwarf purple verbena ‘Lollipop’, and a blue haze of lesser calamint ‘Blue Cloud’, a magnet for bees.
Adding autumnal tints, there’s a red-leaved Japanese acer and an American redbud ‘Forest Pansy’, with its glossy heart-shaped, purple leaves. Hydrangeas certainly work hard here – both ‘Annabelle’, with its huge greenish white flowerheads, and ‘Limelight’, which fades to white and pink with age. At their feet are shade-loving white Japanese anemones, offset against foliage of varying green hues and textures – honey spurge, rodgersia, hosta and box. Softening the paving are white woolly lamb’s ears leaves and waves of golden Japanese forest grass. ‘I love its fountain effect along the edges,’ says Nic.
CREATING ATMOSPHERE
Extending into half of a double garage attached to the east-facing wall enabled Nic to create a 2.5m x 6m summerhouse. ‘It’s added another dimension, and it’s lovely at night to look across the courtyard and see another room lit up.’
Outdoor illumination is a vital element, and Nic finds that stringing up LED garden festoon bulbs is both wonderfully effective and inexpensive. ‘The problem with installing ambient lighting is that it wouldn’t light the table so atmospherically,’ he explains. The lighting is plugged into a waterproof outdoor socket and placed on an automatic timer. ‘I don’t have blinds or curtains, so night lighting
‘Keep features, materials and planting simple. In a small space, a few larger-format items look better than lots of small fiddly pieces’
extends the view from indoors into the garden.’ Over the years, he’s added furnishings, such as the Adirondack-style loungers and a retro open-wirework chair, unearthing many characterful items from reclamation yards and antiques and collectors fairs.
‘Keep features, materials and planting simple – in a small space, a few larger-format items look better than lots of small fiddly pieces,’ Nic advises. Most recently, he bought a steel, log-burning chimenea from Aldi. ‘I originally had a low bowl-shaped firepit, but it became a trip hazard.’ However, the chimenea is unobtrusive, and having the fire halfway up means it can warm up anyone sitting at the table.
CHILDHOOD LOVE
Nic’s grandmother was a keen gardener who lost no time in involving her twin grandsons. ‘We were barely four years old, and she would ask us to hoe between her lines of bedding plants – a patriotic blend of red geraniums, white alyssum and blue lobelia,’ he recalls. As
Nic grew up, so did his love of gardening, leading to a degree in landscape and garden design at Writtle University College in Essex. Since establishing his own design studio, he hasn’t looked back.
His own garden never stands still, largely because he regularly introduces new elements. ‘When your plot’s tiny, you want to keep re-inventing the space,’ Nic points out. ‘But it’s always manageable, and there’s something so comforting about a walled garden.’
Little Orchards is due to open in aid of the National Garden Scheme (ngs.org.uk) on 12 September 2021 (11am-5pm).
For more on Nic’s garden design, visit we-love-plants.co.uk