Katherine Bott Garden Designer

Family Gardens

The Requirement: Make this garden comfortably usable in a smart, open style.  Ensure there is a good view from the house, across the garden and out to the landscape beyond.

The Solution: A curvaceous, open design gives a feeling of space while providing comfortable places to sit.	Natural materials complement each other and form a clean, easy ground pattern to link spaces.	Planting softens the hardlandscaping, and the geometric paths lead the way to the central arbour.	The lovely view beyond the boundary is still visible through the transluscent planting. Landscaper: Nick Baldwin 07801 284 377

The Requirement: create a garden of linked spaces, each with its own character.  Include a medieval-style garden, a boules pitch, a chessboard, a mediterranean garden, a ruin, a stream, a secluded sitting space.  Planting to be soft-coloured and relaxed.

		The Solution: interlocking shapes create a pattern and a route through the garden.  Different surface materials define separate areas and create interesting contrasts of texture.  Very large oak timbers when covered in climbers will give a romantic enclosure to the mediterranean garden and together with the chessboard and ruin make it the centrepiece, while the boules pitch extends across the width of the area.	Simple timber-edged planters arranged geometrically give a medieval feel to the flower garden, which will eventually have a large pot at the centre.  The planting throughout the scheme will provide screening between the spaces.  The rocky stream runs down the hill at the end of the garden, ending in a small waterfall splashing onto stones. Landscaper: Henry Betts 07789 693 850

The Requirement: update the garden to match the very smart interior of this town house.  Incorporate a hot tub with separate spaces for relaxing and dining.

The Solution: the concept unifies the garden, joining all the spaces in a logical circular pattern.    Landscaper: Clive Hicks 0118 940 6895	New sandstone brightens the terrace areas and provides contrast to the existing blocks. Soft lighting brings the garden into the home at night.	The existing wall is rebuilt at sitting height, topped with hardwood to match the deck around the hot tub.	The timber theme continues with a simple beam that attaches the house to the garden, breaking up the flat facade.