Wendy Stokes | Garden Design | Contemporary Garden

PROFILE

PROJECT PORTFOLIO

SERENE GARDEN

CONTEMPORARY FRONT GARDEN

SENSORY FAMILY
GARDEN

L-SHAPED COURTYARD

GARDEN OF
SHAPES

CONTEMPORARY GARDEN
Hampton, Surrey TW12

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before	plans	after	after	after	after

"Thank you so much for all your hard work. We absolutely love the garden, and use it constantly . . . we are eating every meal outside because it feels so comfortable"

The clients wanted the garden to feel as though it was a natural extension of the kitchen; so that you walked outside without really being aware of it. They felt the view from the kitchen french windows was the most important because this was always visible. They also wanted lots of space for entertaining, permanent seating close to the kitchen, and a way to slow down their dog who had worn a path in their lawn to the end of the garden.

The garden already had some badly built brick walls and a retaining brick wall at the back. These were rendered and painted buttermilk, to tie in with the wall colour in the kitchen. The worktops in the kitchen are wooden, so naturally oily iroko wood was used on top of the rendered walls to create inbuilt seating, and also to add extra storage beneath a hinged bench, and beautiful natural stone travertine paving was used to match the shade of the kitchen floor tiles.

Privacy was an issue so a large raised bed, which doubles as seating, was filled with tall airy plants such as russian sage, verbena, gaura, and bronze fennel to create a transparent screen offering both private and fragrant seating. This bed is also viewed through the french windows, which work to frame the soft billowy planting. A sunken fishpond with 'floating'stepping stones works as an effective device in slowing down the dog, and a bench at the end of the garden provides shade seating, and a focal point.