wildlife garden in
banstead

Brief

The brief for this new build blank canvas was to create a textured naturalistic style garden with a small wildlife pond, water feature, shed and seating areas, using sustainable practises as much as possible with a minimum of hard landscaping.

The view to the field beyond was to be retained as the setting sun filtering through the trees there was particularly special.

The south-west facing house was to be shaded with either plants or a canopy.

My clients gave me lots of scope to design the garden in the best way possible, adhering to their budget.

Design and outcome

The new borders were shaped in a soft curving style to add natural movement to the long and narrow garden. Fresh topsoil had already been laid by the developers throughout and so it was a fairly easy task for the landscapers to create the borders ready for planting.

The stripped off turves, instead of being skipped, were laid in a 'turfmound' in a part of the garden that wouldn't have been easy to plant in; under the rain shadow of a substantial Leylandii hedge. This feature not only added another dimension to the curved theme, it also had the advantage of being the most eco-friendly and cost effective solution.

The small pond lent itself to a position halfway down the garden, easily accessible from the house with a stepping stone path through the lawn but at the same time being far enough away to be an inviting destination and focal point. It's a lovely relaxing spot for sitting and viewing the wildlife in the pond. My client's garden sculptures and decoration soon took up the perfect positions around it!

The chunky stone for the pond was sourced from Horsham Stone: www.horshamstone.co.uk It's a honey coloured river bed sandstone that is beautifully textured. Breedon gravel https://www.breedon-special-aggregates.co.uk was a perfect surrounding material, with planting pockets of creeping thyme and phlox.

The planting plan followed a colour scheme of cool whites, blues and pinks with a more woodland feel featuring an Acer 'Osakazuki' at the bottom of the garden. Many of my client's original plants were incorporated such as Miscanthus, Echinacea, Valerian and a Fig.

Swathes of grasses and perennials are punctucated by Hydrangeas, roses and viburnums with 3 multi-stemmed Malus 'Red Sentinel' for rhythm and height. The trees will provide a stunning show of red berries in winter, great for Christmas decoration as well as providing long lasting food for birds.

Nearer the house and designed to be enjoyed from inside the house and the patio seating area, is a curvaceous rusty coloured water feature 'Poppy' bowl from Urbis www.urbisdesign.co.uk

Ferns and other shade loving plants surround the water bowl while two straight blocks of low Yew hedging either side of the garden contrast with all the other curves..

Three Parasol trees (Liquidambar) were planted on the edge of the existing patio to provide shade for the south-west facing house and were underplanted with a tapestry of sun loving creeping thyme, camomile, oregano and sedums.

''Nancy's really skilled at listening - she was able to turn our brief from a long list of things we did and didn't want into a coherent, clever design.

Nancy worked with us to create something textured, naturalistic and calming. She also kept a tight watch on costs to help us stay on budget and keep waste and hard landscaping to a minimum"

Mr and Mrs G, Banstead