Family Garden, Sevenoaks

This family garden, consisting of grass and a boundary of overgrown shrubs and mature trees, wrapped around the whole house. There were no defining features and no spaces with individual character; with two new houses about to be built by the boundary, privacy was also important.

The design was inspired by the details of the Arts and Crafts house: anything too contemporary or geometric would have fought with the architecture. It was critical to keep hard landscaping to a minimum and to celebrate instead what was already there with the gentlest of interventions, using planting where possible to define areas and give them character and to create a relaxed atmosphere for the garden.

The design intention was to make the place into places. A sweeping drive curves to slow the pace of arrival and screen the parking. Paving and deep herbaceous borders sit against the house, setting it within the planting, resolving the sharp level change. The lawn was kept but given a broad sweeping shape; everything beyond it became long grass and meadow, with mown paths winding through.

The magnificent mature cornus, the garden’s greatest asset, now sits in a wildflower meadow. The conifer boundary was supplemented with deciduous trees to create the sense of woodland, with a secluded children’s play area, and an outdoor kitchen built from materials found on site.

The resulting garden is a space that finally feels right in its location, with different garden areas merging in and out of view.