Wye, Kent

This project sits somewhere between a private garden and a workplace as the brief was not only to redesign the garden for the owner, my client, but to enable the garden to eventually be used with clients during the ‘Remarkable Retreats’ that she runs. The existing garden, although it had some beautiful shrubs and trees, was overgrown.  The sloping ground in places made it impossible to pause and sit, and the areas currently designated as sitting areas did not suit the sense of privacy and enclosure that my client wanted to create. As well as redesigning the existing dining area there were new briefing items to accommodate, two sitting areas either side of the garden studio with a garden kitchen in one, a second dining area associated with the studio, a sauna and hot tub area, a place to do yoga, a greenhouse and vegetable garden and a storage shed. Additionally, my client wanted an  abundantly planted, slightly wild garden. The first design move was to rationalise the circulation and create a focal point to lead you into the garden as the main part of the garden, unusually, can’t be seen from the house. The dining area, covered by a pergola and with three arches leading to it, creates this focal point. This area also acts as a pivot point, with all routes leading to or from it. The existing route from the rear of the house leads up to it. From it an easy and obvious route around a new oval lawn links the studio with its kitchen patio, to the greenhouse area and on to a new decked area. Alternatively you can take a secondary informal shaded route running towards the rear gate.  All of the new sitting areas are kept well inside the boundaries, allowing the planting beds along the boundaries to become deeper, with new hedging and trees added to create the required privacy. The existing dining area outside the house was widened and the steps rationalised to avoid squeezing past the dining table to get up into the garden. Finally, a new axis has been created with a ‘secret’ shade garden outside the rear studio window at one end, looking across the lawn to terminate in the new sunny decked area, perfect for practicing yoga, which will be surrounded by colourful and scented planting. The garden will be built in phases, starting in autumn 2023 with the studio patio and kitchen area.