Knotts View
The owners of this pretty cottage in Windermere approached us wanting to update their garden design in order to make it more usable for their growing family. The original garden space consisted of a large sloping lawn with a small shed in the lower corner. There was a limestone path near the house and very little space to accommodate the outdoor dining furniture. Planting largely consisted of shrubs surrounding the edges of the lawn.
The client’s requests were to have a family-sized dining patio near the house, along with a lawn for the children to play and a home office with an evening seating area. They were keen on a clean, modern and contemporary design with easy to maintain planting.
The Solution
We worked through the design process, taking into consideration all of the client’s requirements, and in due course provided them with a final master plan and associated costs to approve.
After some initial discussions, it had become clear that a full rebuild of the garden would be necessary. Whilst this may sound quite extreme, it often works out more cost-effective than trying to modify the current layout and will result in a much more desirable outcome. The sloping garden needed to be terraced. We managed to get the garden to work over two levels, the top level being for daytime dining and a lawn area, and the lower level being the home office and evening entertaining area. We incorporated a mid-level raised bed to soften the hard landscaping and to give the lower level a degree of privacy.
We decided upon a burnt larch cladding for the home office and used the same material for the arbor walkway in the upper part of the garden. Not only is burnt larch visually striking, it also offers superior waterproof qualities and higher resistance to fire and rot. It also has the benefit of much lower maintenance as there is no need to recoat every year as with varnishes and paints.
Corten steel planters were used to add additional planting around the garden room and work in harmony with the slate and burnt larch used throughout the design. Raising the bed surrounding the tree on the upper patio and cladding it with corten steel not only smartens the area, but also creates a feature of the tree and allows for the planting of bulbs that will bloom in the spring and summer.
The Outcome
The garden now feels like an extension of the home, an outdoor room if you will. The slate paving on the enlarged upper dining patio and lawn edging echoes the materials used in the house construction.
The garden room is surrounded by composite decking and soft contemporary planting. The area is now private and secluded and an ideal space for entertaining friends.
Planting throughout the garden is soft and subtle, using a muted palette of pale greens and mixing natural and structural plants to create a sophisticated feel. Variegated plants and a variety of leaf structures add to the textured feeling of the planting scheme. Pale green hydrangea ‘Annabel’ juxtaposed with structured grasses; neatly trimmed box balls planted alongside soft pennisetum ‘Harlem’ and star-like choisya. Cornus contraversa variegata brightens up a shady corner, and late flowering dogwood creates a soft wall for increased privacy at the bottom of the garden.
The garden design is brought alive at night with the use of hidden lighting that casts shadows and adds a warmth and a glow to the detailed finishes in the space.
“What a wonderful transformation. Thank you so much for creating such a beautiful space for our family. The lower terrace feels like a place of real sanctuary for us, and the children really appreciate the flatter lawn for playing.”
Mark MWindermere
