COUNTRY – A SLOPING SITE WITH BEAUTIFUL VIEWS

“Amanda has designed a garden that is a joy to us and which delights all who see it – her planting combinations are simply stunning and provide a succession of beautiful colour and form throughout the year.” KM

The most impressive feature of this large country garden is its location. Just north of Bath, it overlooks stunning rural scenery but the garden as it was when I first saw it didn’t take advantage of the view, as it was only really appreciated from a too-small terrace at the side of the house. Opening this out through careful detailing, with a low wall offering protection from the slope beyond, has meant that my clients can now take full benefit of the location and really feel they are part of the landscape.

Beyond this, behind the house, was an awkwardly sloped garden with a large laurel sitting on the highest corner, backed by an attractive low wall. If you walked parallel to this wall, you got the second best view of the garden, over towards a charming bell-tower in the neighbouring hamlet. The design therefore separated these two areas by creating a retaining wall where previously there had been a slope, with a lower, now level, lawn, surrounded by roses and other sensual planting, and an enclosed walk at the upper level, which acts to frame the view of the church.

THE GARDEN BENEFITS FROM CAPTURING THE EVENING SUN ALONG ITS MOST INTERESTING WALKS

New steps have been added within the wall at the higher level to link the lawn with the upper walk. By the house, a space outside the kitchen door was originally enclosed with a high retaining wall, which felt very uncomfortable, and so I extended the terrace in front of it, linking it to the main terrace with a raised pond, and I breached it with a second set of steps, identical to and aligned with those on the far side of the lawn, and the space can now ‘breathe’.

All the stone work was constructed from stone found on site and the result is a garden which looks remarkably mature given its young age.