River Garden in Hampshire

This beautiful large cottage is surrounded by a wonderful lush landscape in the heart of Hampshire. A chalk river meanders at the bottom of the south facing garden and the owners wanted to take advantage of the views afforded by the sloped garden towards the river from a garden studio they want to put at the top of the slope.

Keen on symmetry but also they wanted to take advantage of the natural contours of the existing gardens and maximise the views.

The clients are keen growers of fruit and vegetables, they entertain a lot, they have chickens and they love wildlife. We therefore gave the clients a series of terraces and sunken areas : the raised beds in the form of a wheel, the sunken grass area, the terrace for the studio and the paths leading to the studio as well as the path leading to a sculpture that the client has purchased.

The planting is in keeping with a country garden adn blends into the surrounding landscape. But we have also used block planting with lots of structure in the texture of the plants.

The clients are waiting for planning application for the garden studio and will commence construction during 2011.