Difficult Sloping Gardens

We seem incredibly busy designing gardens on difficult slopes at the moment, for example we have just delivered a design for a garden with an 8 metre climb in Sevenoaks and another garden in Leigh with a 3 metre climb. Both of these gardens currently are swallowed up by the steep bank and the feeling of the home being engulfed by the hillside, currently quite oppressive!

Always interested in textures, contrast and materials that work with its surroundings are all high on the agenda, I have recommended light reflective walls and paving to ensure the space feels lighter and brighter. Gabions have been favoured in the Sevenoaks Garden with a deck that sits midway breaking up the steep climb, although our choice of stone filling has yet to be made. Sets of steps and landings with viewpoints and places to sit and rest have also been included. Glass ballustrades to keep the views open are included.

Greencube embraces these difficult gardens as we find them challenging and interesting to work on and on a personal level I really like gardens that are on different levels, changing the topography (cutting and filling) with interlocking terraces all with bold planting always look fab! We are working with 7Oaks Landscapes on this one and look forward to seeing it built.

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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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