Rutland
Garden Designs
This garden belongs to part of a massive stately home that has been divided into four homes. The building is listed and carries a lot of history so there were a fair amount of rules and regulations to work around. The area I was asked to design belonged to a lovely old stable block at one end of the property. It was a relatively straightforward project with the main challenge being to find a way to connect the large 3-storey building to the landscape in which is sits.
The plot, which measures about 40-50m long and 20m wide across, is a decent size yet looked small in relation to the proportions of the building. The owners wanted a formal space with numerous places to sit as well as introducing an element of water.
As far as design, the idea was that the layout would be simple and timeless, using straight lines coming off the house. To establish a link between the garden and the wider landscape we made a hole in a big old yew hedge so that visitors can look through and make a visual connection. Material-wise, I used York stone with a simple sawn surface, and the smaller style Dutch bricks in a darker colour to tie in with the the dark blue colour used in the old stable block.
I put in a rectangular lawn, cloud-pruned box (luckily enough they don’t have blight in that part of the country) and pleached limes on either side, which help bring the hedges down into the space. We also created long rectangular borders with mixed planting.
It’s a really simple, classic layout and I like the idea that over time even though inevitably the planting will change, the structure is strong enough to hold it all together.
