Country House

This garden in Berkshire was once part of a much larger Victorian garden of around 50-acres. Our client had inherited a remnant part of the old formal gardens and our challenge was to ensure the, now, smaller garden still felt spacious and very much in proportion with the historic house, as if it had always been.

The approach to the house was an important element of our masterplanning. Our clients had recently acquired the old Coach House, which meant the original drive could now be moved to allow for a more enticing approach towards the entrance of the property.  This enabled us to plant a wildflower meadow to one side and frame the drive with an avenue of Prunus lusitanica domes designed to draw you in through the new elegant timber gates.

In the main garden, with the expert help of landscape contractors, we managed to restore the dry derelict pond and introduced a new terrace and a flight of steps from the main façade of the house. The view from the house, over the new pond, is now symmetrical and in-keeping with the grandeur of the property.

As the garden was largely visible from the house, we created the illusion of a series of garden rooms, with distinct atmospheres. To help achieve this, we introduced different planting styles on a range of levels, each with varying light conditions, so that the garden could be enjoyed from different perspectives at separate times of the day.

To connect the main house with the old Coach House we created a pool area surrounded by Magnolias and underplanted with white Hydrangeas, making both areas feel accessible and as one, as if it had always been.

Around the old Coach House and at the end of the drive, a woodland garden was created and enlivened with Hellebores, Deschampsia and Japanese Anemones where once a sea of overgrown Rhododendrons had stood. We also added a small vegetable and cut flower garden, beautifully screened with Apple espaliers trained between the Oak posts. Read more about this garden in our Journal.