A Victorian terraced house with a narrow garden laid to paving and gravel, with a garden room at the end to the full width. There are some mature plants including a lovely Olive tree and quite a few sharp edges, changes of level, and trip hazards meaning the garden is not very child friendly

Brief: Create a family friendly garden that is safe for children to play in and be able to crawl or walk around safely. Remove as many of the sharp corners and level changes as possible and all pebbles and things that go in the mouth!

Create a larger and more attractive dining area with twinkling lights and plants to sit well with the olive tree. All plants must be child friendly, safe and tactile

Design solution: A simple clean earthy design with deck, clay pavers, rendered walls, built in benches and new fences.  All hazards have been removed by using a Millboard deck to cover the sharp corners and create ample space for a bench and BBQ near the house, with a generous planting bed in front of a low wall softened with pretty evergreen perennials

The dining terrace is laid to clay pavers in herringbone pattern, with an inbuilt L-shape timber bench and a raised rendered bed adjacent to the fence as the ‘back’ of the bench, and a free-standing wall as the other ‘back’

The remaining beds are ground level to allow for the planting to tumble over and soften the paving using a simple Mediterranean palette such as lavender, santolina, germander, salvia, yellow-eyed grass, libertia and ornamental grasses. Twinkling festoon will be strung across the garden to make it more welcoming at night