Before
This long narrow town garden had been neglected for many years. The over grown shrubs all needed pulling out which left a blank space with an imposing 3m high wall around half of the garden, a rickety fence around the rest and some mature trees which had preservation orders on them. There was no paving worth keeping and the steps up from the basement were dark and narrow.
After
The redesigned garden has been divided into three main areas; a productive fruit, vegetable and cutting garden at the south facing rear of the garden, an astro turf and tough planting play area in the centre for the children and dog and close to the house an area for entertaining and relaxing including a real lawn, herbaceous beds and paved eating area.
Bright planting against the large dark wall with some divisions by pleached hornbeam trees and box hedging has turned the imposing wall into a dramatic feature.
The astro turf allows the children to play outside even in the depths of winter without ruining either their clothes with mud or the grass.
Raised beds in the vegetable and cut flower garden allow easy maintenance, with gravel paths and the beds a good height to work at. A new garden shed has enough room for all the tools and space for the garden furniture and bikes to be kept out of the worst of the winter weather. Some herbaceous planting near the vegetables allows a different range of plants in this hotter part of the garden and softens the look of the functionality of the rest of this area.
The steps from the basement have been enlarged and some terraced beds added to make a light, airy, pleasing feature rather than just a functional one. In bringing the garden planting closer to the basement of the house and opening the space out the basement feels much more a part of the entire building and not just a dark room underground.