Garden Tour: A Restful South London Retreat with Naturalistic Planting
This generous garden has been cleverly zoned to create a cohesive space out of a long, narrow plot
When faced with that London rarity, a large garden, the owners of this Crystal Palace property felt compelled to call for backup. They approached garden designer and landscape architect Kate Eyre wanting guidance on how to tackle the long and narrow plot. ‘I recommended we break it down into zones,’ explains Kate. ‘The owners wanted an orchard and a water feature. We created two levels with places to sit; an L-shaped section at the bottom of the garden became a third space, dedicated to a kids’ play area.’
The garden faces south, so Kate designed a sheltered pergola area by the house, over which she trained evergreen jasmine to create dappled shade.
On the east side of the garden, Kate planted five photinia trees to provide evergreen foliage and colour throughout the year, as the young red growth turns green when mature. On the opposite side, she planted espalier fruit trees against the wall.
The patio was paved in slate and an existing holly tree was given a heavy prune and incorporated into the design.
As the house sits at the top of a steep hill, there’s always a breeze. Kate felt that grasses would work particularly well, making a soothing sound as they swayed in the wind.
She also planted more than 500 bulbs to create the impression of abundant blooms each spring, with a rich colour scheme of purples, pinks and blues. Key flowers included tulips, echinacea and irises, of which the pale blue ‘Jane Phillips’ variety is Kate’s personal favourite.
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As the house sits at the top of a steep hill, there’s always a breeze. Kate felt that grasses would work particularly well, making a soothing sound as they swayed in the wind.
She also planted more than 500 bulbs to create the impression of abundant blooms each spring, with a rich colour scheme of purples, pinks and blues. Key flowers included tulips, echinacea and irises, of which the pale blue ‘Jane Phillips’ variety is Kate’s personal favourite.
Discover 10 ways to pep up your patio
Kate’s plans needed to include a retaining wall on the west side to hold back the earth at the bottom of another property’s garden. This pricey but necessary addition involved building a blockwork wall, which was then rendered. To soften the look of the wall and fencing, Kate planted lots of grasses, evergreens and flowers to create a naturalistic effect.
Visible in the foreground is the flower bed, which conceals the next part of the garden from view as you look down the plot.
Visible in the foreground is the flower bed, which conceals the next part of the garden from view as you look down the plot.
As you walk away from the house, the lower level of the garden reveals itself. Steps on either side of the flower bed lead down to a second lawn, complete with apple, pear and cherry trees. A hardwood deck creates the perfect sun trap, complete with loungers. ‘I wanted to create a destination point halfway down the garden,’ explains Kate, ‘a quiet, secret area with a water feature.’ The oblong water spout can be seen near the top of the wall.
Photographed in action and illuminated at night, the water spout protrudes from the wall and pours down onto a pebble base, before draining beneath the decking.
Explore more ideas for wonderful water features
Explore more ideas for wonderful water features
Originally, the designs included an orchard growing among meadow grass, with a path mown down the middle, but the owners found it too high maintenance. ‘Meadows go through various phases and they can look patchy – most of the ones you see are very old,’ says Kate. In the end, the decision was taken to turf the orchard instead.
After dark, feature lighting at the base of each tree highlights the abundant fruit and illuminates the route down to the bottom of the garden.
Reflecting on the garden project, which she completed around 2009, Kate says, ‘Based on the budget, which was on a bit of a shoestring, it was a very effective garden.’
TELL US…
Is this your dream garden? If not, let us know what is in the Comments below.
TELL US…
Is this your dream garden? If not, let us know what is in the Comments below.
Who lives here A professional couple with two children
Garden size 300 sq m
Location Crystal Palace, southeast London
Designer Kate Eyre at Kate Eyre Garden Design
That’s interesting The house once belonged to Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, the artist and sculptor who designed the dinosaurs unveiled in Crystal Palace Park in 1854