THE OLD FIRS- country garden
 

Situated in a village in Wiltshire this is a period property, dating from the late 15th century. Several additions have been made to the building over the years but it was important to keep with the traditional style of the house. The client was keen to keep with tradition but update the style of the garden with a contemporary edge.

I wanted to add my own twist to the formal garden in order to create an original space and bring it into the 21st century. I did this by following classic rules of symmetry and repetition but by offsetting some shapes and creating subtle, irregular patterns, I developed a series of personal rules in order to break free of tradition.

Functionally, I wanted to create a collection of adjoining ‘rooms’ such as a kitchen garden and dining area, but I also felt it important to keep an open feel to the garden, surrounded by open and more natural spaces. Clipped, pleached trees and umbrella canopies provide a sense of enclosure and screening but leave a feeling of openness, framing views of the rest of the garden.

I carried the same ideas of updating the formal garden through into the planting choices by blurring the lines between traditional garden spaces and the natural environment. Throughout the site I have used a variety of contemporary, naturalistic planting practices, such as original seed mixes and matrix planting, using these to create a contrast between structural landscape features and soft planting.