Town Gardens - Jo Thompson Landscape & Garden Design

Water Garden, London

admin — Mon, 19 May 2025 16:00:45 +0000

City Water Garden

A garden for the whole family

This city garden is a space designed for the whole family. A curving path sinews its way down a long London garden; along the paved path sculpture is also seating, a water feature is also for play.

This is a garden for young, old and all in between. Traditional elements such as winding paths, pleached trees and herbaceous borders are combined with new approaches to achieve a balance and a space designed to stand the test of time.

The garden begins with a dining terrace which provides an entertaining space leading out from the kitchen. From here, walking along a curving garden path, we meet a sculpture by Ben Barrell: a sculpture which is a seat, a bench, a place to stop and be near the children playing in the water jets.

Surrounded by roses, this space is tucked away so that it’s a garden secret in a secret garden, a surprise as well as a destination for those in the know. Boundaries are burred and lost in the middle of the city with hedges and espaliered fruit trees. Pebble seats, also by Ben Barrell, are art and punctuation, as is apiece by David Harber in a shadier bed.

Staggered hedges and shrub borders lead to a bespoke play area, with a treehouse, swing, climbing frame and slide. As the children get older, the hedges will be allowed to grow higher and inwards in order to conceal a space which for the moment needs to be visible from the house.

Photography by Rachel Warne

Jo Thompson’s London water garden is featured in Villegiardini magazine, read the article here (translation available).

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Rose Garden In The City

Jo Thompson — Sun, 18 May 2025 16:17:39 +0000

A plantswoman's garden

A rose garden for a rose lover

Plantswoman meets plantswoman in this London garden.

The client had moved back from the United States and was keen to grow all the plants that she hadn’t been able to grow in California, and one of the first steps that she and Jo took was to make a long list of all the much longed-for plants.

Roses dominated that list, and the key here was to create a way to include as many roses a possible. Using the verticality of this garden was key.

This long, narrow city garden has therefore been notionally divided into three notional garden rooms by means of bespoke steel pergolas which run down the length of the garden. These pergolas, smothered with climbing and rambling roses and clematis, take their cue from the geometry of the house doors in order to provide winter structure.

The romantic atmosphere created by the climbing plants screens the garden from the tall houses which surround the space on all sides. A sunny terrace leading from the kitchen is home to pots of herbs and tender plants; from here we move into an area of flower beds dedicated to herbaceous borders and shrub roses. From here, there is a glimpse of bespoke timber curving benches which create an intimate seating area, separate by espaliered fruit trees from the furthest end of the garden.

This spot is a dining area on sandstone cobbles, by a brick pizza oven situated discretely in one corner. Hedges and structural shrubs have been carefully staggered along the garden’s length in order that no one spot can be easily seen from another.

Photography by Rachel Warne

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Spa Garden, Kent

admin — Fri, 16 May 2025 13:00:28 +0000

Spa Garden, Kent

Country elegance

This oak-framed swimming pool building and and spa area were designed and constructed to fulfil strict planning regulations on a Grade I listed house in an Area of Natural Beauty, in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

A previously-empty area has been transformed into a spa and entertaining area, all wrapping round a new indoor swimming pool. Contemporary elements combined with classical details link the garden to the landscape beyond. Reclaimed York flagstones form a terrace large enough to hold a hundred people for parties. This large area is broken up with asymetrically-laid buxus and ilex crenata topiary. Box-pleached Carpinus betulus break the view of the swimming pool and gym roofs from the main house.

The steps leading down to this area are set between two large beds, filled with green and white planting: predominantly Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ , Rosa rugosa alba and Artemisia ‘ Lambrook Mist’. Foliage is of importance here: amongst the foliage planting here are Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’, Pittosporum tobira, Fatsia japonica and Viburnum cinnamomifolium.

Photography by Rachel Warne

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London Rose Garden

admin — Wed, 14 May 2025 19:00:26 +0000

London Rose Garden

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Crouch End, London

admin — Mon, 12 May 2025 14:00:22 +0000

Crouch End, London

City garden

Photography by Rachel Warne

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Sports Garden, London

Jo Thompson — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 13:04:16 +0000

Secret Garden

A garden full of surprises

This large garden in a leafy area of London conceals a number of surprises within it. Constructed over a new basement, a series of drystone walls create terraces which provide year-round structure and views from all storeys of the house.

Designed for a plant lover and a lover of sport, this garden needed to appeal to all members of the family. A loose, romantic planting of shrubs and blossoming trees create layers of interest which screen the labyrinth route as the visitor travels along it.

At a midway point invisible from the house, radiating semi-circles of stone create an amphitheatre-like seating area, where friends gather to relax, to socialise, and also to watch the action taking place on the key part of the brief of this garden: a sports pitch completely concealed from the rest of the space.

Photography by Rachel Warne

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Georgian London

Jo Thompson — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 17:26:15 +0000

Islington, London

A family garden for a Georgian house

A haven for wildlife, this garden was the result of long conversations with the clients who were looking for a characterful solution to a large empty space situated in a conservation area.

A pond and summerhouse were created, echoing the natural lines of the design which locates a play lawn amongst curving beds which lead along and around the garden.

A vegetable garden with beds and espaliered fruit trees sits to one side with historic walls forming part of its boundary.

Native plants sit alongside ornamental perennials and a generous shrub planting including hydrangeas, cornus and sambucus for structure, together with trees selected for a continuous display of blossom and leaf colour, including amelanchier, magnolia, cercis and acers.

An oak pergola smothered with climbing roses and clematis leads to a separate wing of the house, whilst a reclaimed York stone terrace leads to a covered outdoor kitchen tucked away to one side, out of view.

A true family garden, it is a space for children’s play, for entertaining friends and family, and for two very happy cats.

Photography by Rachel Warne

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Detached Villa, Notting Hill, London

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 14:45:13 +0000

A Villa in Notting Hill, London

Being brought onto the project team when the architecture is at its initial concept stage, ensures that all eventualities can be considered, and that the very best solutions found. The clients longed for a garden space that didn’t feel too controlled, a planting that has biodiversity as its central inspiration, alongside a lawn and seating areas, and a sense that the garden felt part of the house all year round..

Four storeys beneath this garden lies a swimming pool which can spied through an oculus located discretely, bringing light back down into the basement. Sculptural stones are scattered through the garden and terrace area, providing functional seating as well as sculptural forms. Air conditioning outlets are clad in the same timber as the spa far below.

23 + GS / 318 Architects

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Coastal Retreat, Sussex

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 17:13:19 +0000

Coastal Retreat, Sussex

A family garden

An idllylic sanctuary nestled into the Sussex coastline.

Providing a serene haven in an open East Sussex shoreline, this coastal garden was designed for a family who love the sea, beachcombing, sunbathing, sitting in the shade, gardening and entertaining.

The gentle, green hues of a carefully selected plant palette sing against the wide blue sky, whilst driftwood timbers and natural stone converse with the garden’s immediate environment.

Dwarf pines and domes of rosemary provide soft pillows of structure, whilst daisy-flowered erigeron self-seed and tumble over natural stone steps and structural grasses sway in the salt-laden breezes.

A contemporary take on traditional crazy paving leads the eye along a stone pathway which winds around the garden, past a timber bench nestled into an abundance of lavender and on to a small terrace, which provides a comforting shelter against the elements.

An outdoor shower is tucked away in one corner, a barbecue sits near a terrace, and seating areas are placed throughout the space in order to provide places to sit and enjoy the view.

This garden has a real sense of home whilst being perfectly anchored into its landscape, providing privacy in a place that’s open to all.

Gold Medal winner: Association of Professional Landscape Designers Residential Design Awards 2022

Photography by Rachel Warne, Built by The Outdoor Room

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Chelsea Barracks

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 16:17:01 +0000

Chelsea Barracks

London Garden Squares

For the first time in over 150 years, the former Chelsea Barracks will become accessible to the public, as part of a major new residential development in London’s Belgravia.

Jo has helped to create beautifully landscaped public green spaces, with the design of the first two of seven traditional garden squares, transforming five acres of previously hidden land.

The first, Mulberry Square, was brought to life in the form of a beautifully designed kinetic tapestry, drawing on Bridget Riley’s colourful striped painting.

Extending over 100m long and 30m wide, Mulberry Square will act as the main thoroughfare through the estate and pays homage to a traditional kitchen garden, planted with herbs and flowers that can be picked for cooking.

The second of the garden squares, Bourne Walk, situated along the border of Chelsea Bridge Road, seeks to create a British native woodland, which has been planted with established trees and native flora to create an ecological corridor to encourage wildlife into the heart of the capital.

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