A steeply sloping town garden
Marlborough, Wiltshire
The Brief
The challenge here was to create an attractive garden on a steeply sloping town site. The owners had enjoyed opening their previous garden to the public, so they wanted lots of variety and interest for visitors to discover and enjoy. Special requests included a small croquet lawn and a canal.
My design
The first priority was to link the house with the garden, in a way that would play down the steeply sloping site. My design solution was to introduce a large raised pergola, to reduce the visual impact of the major change of level near the house. The change of level also worked to my advantage, allowing me to use water to maximum effect, with a series of spouts, chutes, rills, water steps, and tanks, as well as the canal. To give the garden an immediate established feel, many existing materials - including stone, slabs, setts, cobbles, coping and tiles - were lifted and re-used.