This family-oriented garden aimed to bring a little wildness back into the large new-build plot, provide space for child and adult alike and create just a little privacy from the relatively large number of windows overlooking the property. The clients were a lovely couple with two primary school children – who were big helpers on the project, thank you! – and wanted play space with a sense of adventure, room to kick a football, a little room for planting, the introduction of semi-mature specimen trees to create a sense of maturity and screening, somewhere to sit with the all-important glass of wine and also, on a practical level, to deal or cope with the very poor ground conditions and risk of flooding.

A large circular lawn is placed in the middle of the garden, with everything else radiating from this. Gravel paths and raised beds hug the perimeter of the lawn nearest the house, whilst the area outside the lawn on the fence boundaries is given over to a wild expanse of meadow, raised bespoke play equipment, specimen trees and a bespoke, tall living willow tunnel. I love this area, it’s exactly the sort of space I love to see kids playing; my two girls’ favourite activity is bug hunting in all the nooks and crannies of our garden, and the children whose garden this was were very excited to see the play equipment emerging from the ground when they came home from school.

There is also large composite deck near the house for entertaining both children and adults. A composite deck was selected in part because of the ground conditions: drainage was improved across the site, the majority of which is soft landscaping, but to get a patio to properly and reliably drain over the course of its life was always going to be an issue. The deck is sat on composite posts and framing – completely rot proof, even if water does pool on occasion despite the ground improvement the posts will remain unaffected, and any standing water will only ever appear underneath the deck.

Another fun build, and another happy family – which means I’m happy too!

Please click on a photo below for a better view and to cycle through the rest of the gallery.


Please click on the first image below to open a gallery of the construction phase of this garden. A lot of work went into it, despite the majority being “only” soft landscaping. Each photo is accompanied by a caption for more information.


If you’d like to start planning your own dream garden don’t hesitate to get in touch now