A video of the latest classic and contemporary front garden design by the Distinctive Gardener
The garden before and after
The clients of this garden have great style and flair and wanted us to design a garden that in some way reflected the classic and contemporary elements of the house interior. One of the features of the original garden which we wanted to show off in the new design was the wide path. We replaced the concrete with elegant limestone paving, edged on both sides with a small gravel border.
The path before and after
We chose a yellow limestone for the path, which has an interesting texture and looks great with the Cotswold buff gravel border that runs along its entire length. We also recreated the wide raised step under the open porch using bullnose sandstone steps that incorporated a panel of the path’s limestone.
We maximised the grandeur of the open porch by removing an old climbing jasmine and replacing it with the standard bay tree and installing a stylish porch lantern.
The different textures and borders really add interest and breadth to the garden path.
The photo above shows how you can create interesting patterns and lines with paving, gravel, a planted border and hedge. The small border contains Carex ‘Ice Dance’, Ferns, Snowdrops and miniature Iris for winter interest. These borders will burst into life in the spring and summer with the stunning foliage of Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ and the delicate blue flowers of Geranium ‘Nimbus’.
The gravel path opens up the garden and invites you in
The client really wanted to be able to get ‘into’ the heart of the garden, and so, as shown in the photos above, we created a gravel pathway that takes you on a journey. This will enable the owner to walk amongst the beds that we've ensured will be full of interest throughout the year.
The photos show the newly planted garden in February and you can see the deep purple foliage of Euphorbia Purpurea with its yellow flower buds just starting to emerge. The two rectangular beds also contain Alliums, Bergenia, Brunnera, Geranium and a fantastic Rose that is happy in partial shade, the white flowered Rose, ‘Desdemona’.
Garden view from gate
The left hand wooden fence (which you can see in the photo above) will soon be covered with evergreen jasmine, which will also form a hedge along the entire front wall of the garden. This will give a wonderful heady scent throughout the summer.
The big feature under the bay window and the front boundary wall will be the beautiful flowers and foliage of 6 large Hydrangea ‘Kyushu’, which will look stunning in the afternoon shade.
The gate, path and door after
The gate and front door are painted in Farrow & Ball ‘Calke Green’ which forms a great contrast to the dark green leaves of the standard bay tree in its terracotta planter.
Under tree planting
The existing Amelanchier tree has been under planted with Euphorbia robbiea, hellebores and tulips. You can also see the jasmine growing through the trellis that will form an evergreen flowering hedge along the front boundary.
The garden from above, before and after
Both my co-designer, Douglas Vieira, and myself are really looking forward to seeing this garden develop throughout the seasons and we will be posting regular updates as it comes into full bloom!
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