Landscape Design
Inspiring Gardens
Before and Afters
A Contemporary Cottage Garden Sprouts From a Steeply Sloped Lot
A landscape designer transforms an overgrown yard in Somerset, England, into a dreamy outdoor retreat
With its rustic stone walls, planted terraces, gorgeous grasses and sunken hot tub, this sloped cottage garden in the middle of Cheddar Gorge, in Somerset, England, attracts a lot of attention from visiting tourists. “We do get a lot of people stopping and looking,” landscape designer Abigail Hazell says.
The garden, which looks out onto the gorge’s limestone cliffs, was designed for a homeowner who works in fashion. “My main brief was to create a garden that looked stunning, was relatively easy to maintain and fitted in with the landscape,” Hazell says. “The owner also wanted something quite contemporary.” The garden has become the homeowner’s retreat.
The garden, which looks out onto the gorge’s limestone cliffs, was designed for a homeowner who works in fashion. “My main brief was to create a garden that looked stunning, was relatively easy to maintain and fitted in with the landscape,” Hazell says. “The owner also wanted something quite contemporary.” The garden has become the homeowner’s retreat.
Before: The yard before the renovation was completely overgrown, concealing much of the underlying sloped terrain. “When we started digging down, there was just rubble from where the previous owners had built an [addition] and dumped stuff,” Hazell says. “We worked with the existing slope and set new levels in order to create a better relationship with the house and a better flow,” she adds.
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After: On the upper terrace, the custom-made ornamental Bath stone fireplace adds a sense of romantic ruins, aided by the ‘Étoile de Hollande’ climbing roses that will trail up and around it. The crumbling wall nearby is original to the house. A flowering crabapple (Malus ‘Evereste’) tree, which has pink blossoms in spring, sits above the fireplace and screens the neighbor’s shed. Kilimanjaro’ viburnum (Viburnum plicatum ‘Kilimanjaro’) grows nearby, providing spring flowers and autumn color.
Framed panels of star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) grow along the yard’s perimeter fence. “It produces fragrant little white star flowers in the summer,” Hazell says. A multistem kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) grows near the vines. “It gives stunning white flowers in late spring and good autumn color,” Hazell says.
Framed panels of star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) grow along the yard’s perimeter fence. “It produces fragrant little white star flowers in the summer,” Hazell says. A multistem kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) grows near the vines. “It gives stunning white flowers in late spring and good autumn color,” Hazell says.
Before: Access to the garden during the renovation was tricky, with no vehicle route or room for a dumpster, as this before photo shows. Hazell recycled as much existing material as she could. “We wanted to keep as much on-site as possible — we couldn’t just get rid of tons of soil or stone,” she says.
After: All of the new walls feature stone that was already on the site. “[We] placed it decoratively around to keep the feel of the gorge,” Hazell says.
Beech hedging about 6½ feet tall grows along the yard’s side boundaries. “This looks very natural and keeps its leaves for privacy in winter,” Hazell says.
Beech hedging about 6½ feet tall grows along the yard’s side boundaries. “This looks very natural and keeps its leaves for privacy in winter,” Hazell says.
A luxurious new hot tub, one of the homeowner’s top wish-list items, sits below the deck on a concrete pad about 4½ feet deep. “It’s somewhere to switch off and really feel as if you’re immersed in nature,” the designer says. Vibrant red thistles (Cirsium rivulare ‘Atropurpureum’) surround the deck’s perimeter.
In this picture, you can see what Hazell means when she says, “you really are sitting in a ravine.” The top of an old medlar tree peeks out from the level below the tub, offering some privacy. “This tree was the only thing we kept in the garden,” Hazell says. “It was up to its neck in rubble when we started the project, but it’s survived. Now it’s stunning, especially when it goes into blossom.”
Landscape lighting throughout the garden illuminates the space at night. (You can see one light on this stone column.) “It changes the mood, softly uplighting the trees and planting,” Hazell says.
Blue star creeper (Pratia pedunculata ‘Alba’) grows in between the paving stones connecting the various terraces — eventually the plants will grow and fill in the gaps between the stones. Purple salvia spikes (Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’) bloom in the foreground.
Low-Maintenance Ground Covers to Go With Your Pavers
Low-Maintenance Ground Covers to Go With Your Pavers
Built-in benches offer places to perch, relax and enjoy the garden. “The seating has been positioned to maximize the views,” Hazell says. The designer used hard-wearing ipe wood for the deck and seating, choosing it for its beauty and resilience. “Cheddar can get quite damp [and ipe is naturally rot resistant],” Hazell says, adding that the south-facing garden does get a lot of sun too.
This garden strikes a balance between modern style and old-world charm. “It’s a contemporary cottage garden, really, but without being too intense or too blousy. We also wanted a cool palette, with whites and blues,” Hazell says.
Long-blooming flowers fill the garden and include: raspberry colored ‘Blackbird’ penstemon (Penstemon ‘Blackbird’), upright white blazing star (Liatris spicata ‘Alba’), softly billowing ‘Karalee White’ gaura (Gaura lindheimeri ‘Karalee White’), and Dianthus carthusianorum, which is like wild Cheddar pinks.
Long-blooming flowers fill the garden and include: raspberry colored ‘Blackbird’ penstemon (Penstemon ‘Blackbird’), upright white blazing star (Liatris spicata ‘Alba’), softly billowing ‘Karalee White’ gaura (Gaura lindheimeri ‘Karalee White’), and Dianthus carthusianorum, which is like wild Cheddar pinks.
Soft, swaying grasses play a key role in the design. “There’s a relaxing movement to the planting in the garden that was deliberate,” Hazell says. “It’s designed to give the sound of rustling grasslands.”
The ornamental grasses, which keep some structure over winter and provide movement throughout the garden, include: ‘Heidebraut’ moor grass (Molinia caerulea ssp. caerulea ‘Heidebraut’); ‘Northwind’ switchgrass (Panicum virgatum ‘Northwind’), which provides good autumn color; autumn moor grass (Sesleria autumnalis); and ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’), which is an upright, architectural grass planted in drifts among the meadow.
The ornamental grasses, which keep some structure over winter and provide movement throughout the garden, include: ‘Heidebraut’ moor grass (Molinia caerulea ssp. caerulea ‘Heidebraut’); ‘Northwind’ switchgrass (Panicum virgatum ‘Northwind’), which provides good autumn color; autumn moor grass (Sesleria autumnalis); and ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’), which is an upright, architectural grass planted in drifts among the meadow.
New wild meadow grasses grow at the bottom of the slope. In the future, flowers will fill in with the grass. “Generally, the planting in this garden is naturalistic, providing interest all year round and designed to integrate with the dramatic landscape of Cheddar Gorge,” Hazell says. “I used a large range of bulbs to help extend the flowering season, but all the flowering plants in the garden have been chosen for their long season,” she says.
The circular swing is another place to relax.
Shop for outdoor hammocks and swing chairs on Houzz
The circular swing is another place to relax.
Shop for outdoor hammocks and swing chairs on Houzz
The bottom portion of the yard features a new wall, built using stone from the site. “Above the stone wall, woven oak fencing adds additional screening from the passing tourists,” Hazell says.
A row of pleached ornamental pear trees (Pyrus calleryana ‘Chanticleer’) trained on a frame grow above the fence. “These provide stunning spring blossom and fresh green foliage, as well as autumn color,” she says.
A row of pleached ornamental pear trees (Pyrus calleryana ‘Chanticleer’) trained on a frame grow above the fence. “These provide stunning spring blossom and fresh green foliage, as well as autumn color,” she says.
Large planters and pots filled with soft shield ferns (Polystichum setiferum) and bulbs also appear in the garden. “We used natural clay planters,” Hazell says.
“This was a complicated garden,” Hazell says, “but it’s also something I’m really proud of, and I’m really excited to see it mature.”
This plan shows the new layout of the garden, with the hot tub on the middle terrace and the wild meadow planting at the bottom of the lot.
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Who lives here: A fashion industry professional
Location: Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, England
Size: 1,240 square feet (115 square meters); 46 by 89 feet, plus balconies and terraces
Designer: Abigail Hazell Landscape & Garden Design
The surrounding natural landscape drove the garden’s design. “We took inspiration from the local flora — evergreen ferns, cheddar pinks — and used similar plants,” Hazell says.
The upper terrace sits on a Cor-Ten steel platform. “Already orange and rusted, this was inspired by farm gates in the area. It allowed us to achieve the incremental increase in slopes without the need for wider walls,” Hazell says.