Garden Tour: An Overlooked Space Becomes a Private Haven
Trees, water and a zoned design create separate destinations in this garden, each offering a pocket of intimate space
This mostly east-facing garden posed several challenges for garden designer Nigel Gomme of Cityscapers. Its position meant it was shady, with the mews houses at the back blocking light in the morning and the tall, Victorian terrace that the house belongs to creating shade later in the day. The garden was also heavily overlooked, with the view back towards the house flanked on either side by dozens of neighbouring windows.
By designing separate ‘destinations’ in the garden and adding trees to create screening and greenery above head height, where it was most needed, Nigel transformed an almost unused space into a calm and private retreat. The garden now extends seamlessly from the house and looks beautiful year-round, ensuring it is much used and enjoyed by the owners.
By designing separate ‘destinations’ in the garden and adding trees to create screening and greenery above head height, where it was most needed, Nigel transformed an almost unused space into a calm and private retreat. The garden now extends seamlessly from the house and looks beautiful year-round, ensuring it is much used and enjoyed by the owners.
This shot shows how the garden looked before Nigel redesigned it. “It was long and narrow with some nasty artificial grass at the back and not much of interest in it. The owners had used it a bit but not enjoyed the experience,” he says. “The key challenge was to create intimacy and privacy without killing the light.”
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This plan shows how Nigel created three zones, or ‘destinations’, in the garden, each with bench seating, and used different surfaces to mark them out.
“Magic happens with odd numbers,” he says. “I often subdivide gardens into three, never two. One is OK, but if you can have three…”
“Magic happens with odd numbers,” he says. “I often subdivide gardens into three, never two. One is OK, but if you can have three…”
Closest to the house is a polished concrete terrace, to match the flooring of the interior. Then there’s slate and, at the rear, hardwood decking in yellow balau, “which isn’t yellow at all”, Nigel says.
He also incorporated a level change to emphasise the different areas. “It’s a flat plot, and was slightly uninteresting, so I introduced a step up to create some three-dimensionality,” he says.
Geranium psilostemon, also known as Armenian cranesbill, adds a patch of intense pink above the bench.
He also incorporated a level change to emphasise the different areas. “It’s a flat plot, and was slightly uninteresting, so I introduced a step up to create some three-dimensionality,” he says.
Geranium psilostemon, also known as Armenian cranesbill, adds a patch of intense pink above the bench.
The fencing is made of vertical cedar slats. Nigel’s inspiration stems partly from his travels – he’s spent time in Japan and loves Japanese design. “It’s traditional in Japan to use cedar wood vertically like this,” he says. “It’s often used around doorways and I was always struck by how modern it looks.”
Evergreen star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) grows up the fence. “It will flower in almost full shade, so long as it gets just a flash of sun, and it smells great,” Nigel says. “Anything graphic and linear teamed with planting becomes extra intense. You get a strong contrast between the vertical lines and the natural forms.”
Evergreen star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) grows up the fence. “It will flower in almost full shade, so long as it gets just a flash of sun, and it smells great,” Nigel says. “Anything graphic and linear teamed with planting becomes extra intense. You get a strong contrast between the vertical lines and the natural forms.”
Trees are an important component of the design, creating necessary privacy and cover. “They are key architectural elements that make a garden more homely, relaxing and intimate,” Nigel says. “Here, they provide canopies of greenery that structure the space and screen off neighbouring properties, so you can sit on any of the benches and it feels secluded.”
The tree in the middle of the garden is a Cornus kousa. “It’s a lovely, small, elegant tree with white flowers like origami,” he says, “and it doesn’t mind shade.”
Against the garden wall is a cherry. “Cherry trees work here,” he says. “They get enough sun because they grow tall enough to reach it.”
Nigel also introduced water, with a pool just beyond the polished concrete terrace that mirrors and aligns with the tall window in the house. “It’s like glazing in liquid form and it reflects the sky,” he says.
The tree in the middle of the garden is a Cornus kousa. “It’s a lovely, small, elegant tree with white flowers like origami,” he says, “and it doesn’t mind shade.”
Against the garden wall is a cherry. “Cherry trees work here,” he says. “They get enough sun because they grow tall enough to reach it.”
Nigel also introduced water, with a pool just beyond the polished concrete terrace that mirrors and aligns with the tall window in the house. “It’s like glazing in liquid form and it reflects the sky,” he says.
The benches are made from steel RSJs. “I saw [a photo in which] someone had used a steel to make a bench in an interior. I thought it could be brilliant in a garden,” Nigel says.
He got the steels cut to size and galvanised by a steel working company, then used cedar for the seat. “We only use FSC-certified timber,” he says.
He got the steels cut to size and galvanised by a steel working company, then used cedar for the seat. “We only use FSC-certified timber,” he says.
There’s another pool at the back of the garden. “The sound of flowing water is peaceful and it can cancel out other noise,” Nigel says. “It’s a great element to have in the garden, particularly when combined with trees: the water reflects sunlight onto the underside of the trees and the tree canopies reflect the sound of the water back into the garden.”
All the water features are bespoke. “I used chopped down steel H-beams as spouts to match the H-beam legs of the benches,” he says.
Nigel used yew hedging here and there, too. “It creates some blocks of green and hides bits of unsightly wall,” he explains.
Browse more photos of garden water features.
All the water features are bespoke. “I used chopped down steel H-beams as spouts to match the H-beam legs of the benches,” he says.
Nigel used yew hedging here and there, too. “It creates some blocks of green and hides bits of unsightly wall,” he explains.
Browse more photos of garden water features.
LED strip lighting fitted to the underside of the fence washes the wall with light. It’s also installed under the bench at the back of the garden, and in both pools.
Pink hydrangeas and the contrasting white Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ add colour, while Hakonechloa macra grass softens the edges of the terrace and beneath the bench.
Pink hydrangeas and the contrasting white Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ add colour, while Hakonechloa macra grass softens the edges of the terrace and beneath the bench.
The pool at the rear of the garden is fringed with white alliums and Astrantia major ‘Alba’. The large-leaved Rodgersia podophylla, which is shade-tolerant and likes being near water, adds lush greenery.
Colours in the garden move from green, white and intense pink in the summer to warmer tones later in the year. The Acer palmatum, which thrives in a shady spot by the house, “has the reddest leaves in autumn”, Nigel says.
A Cotinus ‘Grace’, or smoke tree, turns translucent red. “And when the colour drains from hydrangeas, they also still look really nice,” he says.
Mindful of using water sustainably, Nigel installed an automatic irrigation system, which delivers water to the roots, so less is lost to evaporation and surface run-off. “Hard surfaces slope towards planted beds and the decking is free-draining, too, so rainwater is kept within the garden and utilised,” he says.
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A Cotinus ‘Grace’, or smoke tree, turns translucent red. “And when the colour drains from hydrangeas, they also still look really nice,” he says.
Mindful of using water sustainably, Nigel installed an automatic irrigation system, which delivers water to the roots, so less is lost to evaporation and surface run-off. “Hard surfaces slope towards planted beds and the decking is free-draining, too, so rainwater is kept within the garden and utilised,” he says.
Tell us…
What appeals to you about this urban garden? Let us know in the Comments.
Who lives here? A couple, both lawyers, and their two teenagers
Location Hammersmith, west London
Property A Victorian terraced house
Garden dimensions 6m x 19m
Designer Nigel Gomme of Cityscapers
Project year 2017
Photos by Nigel Gomme
The owners had moved into this house a year or two before Nigel worked on the garden, and they were renovating the entire property. The architect working on the house, Giles Lovegrove of Trace Architects, recommended Nigel to the owners. Nigel in turn used Giles’s design for the rear of the house as inspiration.
“The window is amazing,” Nigel says. “It’s like they’ve taken a slice out of the building and glazed it. When there’s bold design like this in a house, it’s nice to create some visual connection with it in the garden. I wanted to find a way of reflecting that in the landscape, which I’ve done quite literally with a band of water and planting.”