This period home was built in 1911 in an Arts and Crafts style. This garden is our home and we use it as a showroom for our design ability as well as an experimental area to display a variety of plants not commonly used in the area.
In this garden we monitor the plants survival and ability to withstand a minimal amount of attention. We use this knowledge in the selection and specification of plants for our clients.
The design concept employed in the front garden was to create a garden for viewing from the three raised porches, one for seating and dining, the other two for seating and viewing the garden. This concept led to the creation of parterres in an Arts and Crafts pattern. 900 boxwood shrubs were laid out and planted to create a boxwood parterre, which consists of six main squares. The back two squares have large 'Holly Cubes' planted in them, while the other four squares have a central pyramidal boxwood. At the junction of the garden's two axes we placed a limestone basin by 'Longshadow' with a recycling fountain. This water feature acts not only as a sound buffer from the noise of the local road traffic but also as a bird bath.
This garden will be featured in a book by Julie Messervy titled 'Landscaping Ideas that Work'. It will be printed by Taunton Press,and is expected to be in print, Fall 2013.