at last my own garden ......Steel edging, new lawn and planting commences

As a garden designer it's tough making decisions about how to lay out my own garden, all week I'm creating gardens for others but to knuckle down and make decisions for my 1/2 acre plot which has been neglected for 6 years whilst getting the house fully refurbished as well as working 6 days a week has been difficult.

I have trialled many plants in the garden over the last 6 years and have decided to choose a majority of drought tolerant plants for my sandy soil but have improved the soil for the borders with a very generous layer of mushroom compost and Alpaca poo straight from the field behind us, which has improved the retention of water, thus reducing the watering during the summer months. We have now set out to landscape the 3 gardens with a phased approach. Garden 1, phase 1 a large triangle with some established Birch, Laurel and a Pine tree, mostly sunny aspect with shady border to boundary.

A little help from a digger and driver, a load of help and hard work from my husband, some 30 x 3 metre tall Laurels imported from France to screen the far boundary have been planted. My favourite metal fabricators T & S have made some very sturdy edging to the lawns. This phase has been relatively easy, no real hard landscaping apart from the edge to drive which has been cut to a new shape and a grey sandstone block laid. Mike installed the edging beautifully and the topsoil was smoothed to perfection.

Digger starts clearance, leveling and moving the large Laurels into place

Hard work has started and most weekends given up to get our garden looking great!

Structural cubes of Buxus with Clamagrostis Grasses, create the skeletal framework of the border

Soil leveled ready for turfing

Lawn laid, now need to complete planting and add sculptural pots that will be placed in the inlets

planting includes Verbena, Anthemis EC Buxton, Achillea, Rudbeckia, Salvia argentea,
Aster Munch, Diascia 'Daydream', Eremerus 'Cleopatra', Salvia Caradonna, Gaura lindmeiri

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Sculpture in the garden, greencube designs a sculptural ball garden

I'm still out taking photos of all the gardens that have been constructed in the last year and last night I visited our clients in Borough Green, Kent to photograph this garden. We designed the terracing around this very beautiful home and picked up on the existing buff coloured stone detailing that formed the sills and frames around the doors and windows. A complimentary colour of yellow granite was finally chosen (Yellow Granite paving from CED) and a sculptural border of yellow granite balls (from Rock Unique) underplanted with Ilex crenata balls and Libertia grandiflora. Oak benches and oak arches have also been included and some division of zones created by deck laid flush with granite. This scheme fuses well with the house and setting. I will return in August to take further photos when the garden furniture is in place and hopefully get some night shots, lighting not yet fully completed at time of visit. Greencube planted this garden in two phases, the trees, ro

But my favourite is most definitely the Telegraph Garden

Designed by Cleve West, a magical space with walls retaining at seat level, so wherever you walk you can pause, sit and enjoy, I managed to gain access to Cleve's garden and even had a brief chat with him. I loved it even more once in the space. The star plant at the show for me is most certainly Dianthus cruentus, with its crimson flowers which looked wonderful in amongst the cotswold stone, with its elegant stems and deep red flower. The statuesque columns, the wonderful dry stone walls and planting that had space, looked natural and certainly did not look like it was only planted a week ago!!!! The play with water with the water pipes and channel through the garden with stone stepping stones, all beautifully executed and inspirational.

greencube's garden in Langton Green, near Tunbridge Wells features in Dutch Magazine this month

Our large garden in Langton Green designed back in 2010 features in a Dutch magazine for April - Groei & Bloei , I had to use google translator to work out what they said: dutch "door efficient gebruik te maken van niveauverschillen ontstaan op een klein oppervlak twee terrassen, gescheiden door een prachtige plantenbak, die tevens dienst doet als regleuning van de zitbank." literally translates to: "through efficient use of level differences arising on a small surface two terraces, separated by a beautiful planter, who also serves as backrest of the sofa." my dutch is not too good! Here are some more photos of this garden:

greencube garden and landscape design, UK

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