Garden Design,
East Sussex

Here the brief was to transform a large countryside garden in Peasmarsh in which the existing planting was congested, shrub heavy and too small in scale for the garden.  There was an existing curved pathway right through the garden to the vegetable patch and greenhouse which had to stay.

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I completely redesigned the  planting beds, altering their locations and making them much bigger and more numerous; in total the new borders cover an area of 600 sq m. I added an extra curving path directly to the greenhouse to make it more accessible from the house whilst also connecting withe the existing path to create a circuitous walk through the new beds. The central lawn was shaped into a pleasing oval with the existing Catalpa bignonioides tree in the middle. 

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I saved nearly all of the existing shrubs, trees and perennials, transplanting many of them to new positions in the new mixed borders, and added many more new trees, shrubs and perennials, repeating plants here and there through the borders to create flow and hold the scheme together.  In places the planting is more exotic with Tetrapanax papyrifer 'Rex', Paulownia tomentosa and Hedychium 'Tara', other areas have had extra grit added to make a dry garden scheme with Mediterranean plants and elsewhere there are shadier plants or bog garden plants where the ground conditions require it.

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The new scheme has transformed the garden, creating much more interest whilst enhancing the existing elements of the garden. I'm looking forward to seeing the planting fill out and develop. 

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This garden won the Sussex Heritage Trust Landscape & Garden Award 2024

The Judges said: “Great use of extensive variety of plants covering every season, both common and rare, which had the touch of a true plants person.  Delightfully meandering path through deep herbaceous borders with specimen trees.”

This garden was also featured in Gardens Illustrated August 2023.