The garden of this new build house had a paved terrace along the house, a lawn and very narrow planting beds along the boundary fence. The soil being heavy clay was problematic and a few plants planted by the developer and new owner didn’t survive the first year due to lack of water or overwatering. It can be tricky to judge the right amount of water clay soil needs because it might appear dry on the top but the root zone is moist, especially in shady aspects.
The planting design zones the garden and creates different planting beds of different sizes with low, evergreen hedges to provide structure and a framework.
We created two herbaceous borders with a specimen shrub (Amelanchier) to provide interest and cover the garden shed and added shrub planting closer to the fence line. Mature trees were planted for screening and existing trees moved to the front garden. All herbaceous plants were chosen to attract pollinators and to add to the feel of a ‘tamed’ wildflower garden. The planting palette starts very soft in spring with lime, blue and purple, turning into a more hot coloured border showing orange, purple/pink and yellow during summer.
Installation and Planting: March 2020
