Bijou Courtyard
The brief
To create an attractive, lower maintenance garden to spend time in with family and friends that is good for birds.
Problems to overcome
The garden is extremely small, and a small area is owned by the adjoining house. Three access points for adjoining houses in the Hamlet to the outbuildings beyond are to be maintained.
The design solutions
A garden within a garden was created by defining a dining and seating area with trellis and an archway. This offered both privacy for the client and the neighbour, whilst maintaining light to the adjoining house. Combined with built-in planters and steps, the visual barrier to the whole garden in one go made the garden feel larger than it actually was. Beyond the archway, a path provided access from the neighbour’s on both sides to their outbuildings, and also to the client’s outbuilding.
The dining area was surrounded in planted borders, filled with layered planting, which would offer habitat for birds (and other wildlife) and result in a lower maintenance garden. The existing tree in the garden of the neighbour to the rear was ‘borrowed’, offering height and seclusion. A border beneath the tree was styled as a woodland border with a low water bath included for birds.
“Working with Rachel from design to execution has been an excellent experience. She created a garden for a small overlooked space behind my cottage that not only made the most of the space and the light but took into account all of my planting, aesthetic and maintenance needs, making a clean, easy-to-use-and-maintain, but gorgeous haven with plants and flowers that will bloom across the year. She is responsive to all individual needs in the planning process and worked closely with me on the design and plant plan and also with the concerns of my neighbours. The builders she chose were excellent and also very respectful of my neighbours in our very small hamlet. Highly recommended!”