Low maintenance entertaining space

The brief was to design a low-maintenance, east-facing garden on the back of the house with an entertaining space for up to 40 people, using curves and angles rather than straight lines, where appropriate, and incorporating existing garden furniture and firepit. The planting needed to be free of the invasive ground elder, which was prevalent in the garden and have all-year-round interest, using contrasting foliage and black/hot colours.

Great care was taken to ensure the design worked with the surroundings - in particular the exterior of the 16th century pink farmhouse. We used natural materials to complement the house (stone, willow and oak), and attention was paid to ensure that there were views of specific elements or areas from each window.

A patio area was designed, with colours reflecting the pink limewash of the house and surrounded by raised beds, created from oak sleepers and lined with geotextile membrane, to stop the incursion of ground elder. Benches were integrated into the wall of the raised beds, and the raised beds were capped to allow people to sit within the planting. Curved brick paths lead to and from the garden and gravel edges along the house allow more space for pots. The planting focuses on contrasting foliage suitable for part-shade and a canvas of black flowers peppered with hot colours.