Style(s)
Cottage
Gravel
Naturalistic
Woodland
To correspond with the renovation of the clients’ home, I was commissioned to redesign their medium-sized back garden in the heart of the Alfriston, East Sussex. The existing garden was mostly planted with lawn, the perimeter of which was dominated by a range of mostly evergreen shrubs and trees, which obscured a characterful flint wall enclosing the property .
The clients wanted a garden they could engage with as well as observe from a large terrace adjacent to the house. I provided them with three concept design drawings, each reimagining the space in its own way and they opted to create a gravel garden, inspired by Derek Jarman’s Prospect Cottage at Dungeness, a place discussed during our initial chats.
From there, we began with our removals and edits strategy - choosing to retain a mature Magnolia x soulangeana - and scraped away the lawn. A selection of mature multi-stem trees (such as Heptacodium micinoides) were sourced from, and planted by, Majestic Trees. Next, we reintroduced sterile topsoil, followed by a layer of sand which would became the main planting medium.
Location
Alfriston
Completed
Ongoing
Collaborators
Majestic Trees
Narrow, goat paths were added (using self-binding gravel) and a small terrace was constructed within the gravel garden. The garden was then planted with a range of drought-tolerant perennials, grasses, subshrubs, and self-seeding scatter plants, which offer form, texture and colour. Lastly, a shingle mulch was applied to create a naturalistic coastal effect.
