English Country Garden
Hampshire

Our brief was to design a wild, informal space that attracts wildlife - birds, bees, pollinators, and butterflies - and reflects our client’s literary interests.  We decided to create a whimsical, romantic garden to connect a new extension, making it seem as if it had always been there, integrating an existing raised swimming pool and a picturesque field of lavender.

From the kitchen’s back door, a charming cottage garden unfolds, defined by clay paver pathways, robust enough to withstand frosty winters. A central archway, planted abundantly with repeat-flowering roses and late-blooming clematis, leads to steps and the raised swimming pool beyond. The arch introduces height and in summertime provides our client with her ‘Barbara Cartland’ moment: a cascade of soft pink perfumed blooms.

At the side of the house, an antique decorative gate opens to a pergola draped in billowing wisteria, offering shade and an inviting space for outdoor dining and cooking. Opposite, two splendid yew topiaries stand regally at the end of a small lawn, evoking the image of the king and queen on the chessboard in Alice through the Looking Glass.

Throughout the garden, richly scented shrubs, aromatics, perennials and annuals provide structure, texture and year-round colour. Delicate pink roses, sage, rosemary and salvias soften the edges of the low retaining walls around the pool, whilst half-standard fruit trees contribute to this rural idyll, combining beauty with functionality.