NG2

The hallmarks of a typically utilitarian ‘new build’ plot - an unkempt lawn with basic concrete paving slabs and Photinia ‘Red Robin’. The client was a busy professional who wanted a multi-functional area to relax and to entertain guests. We transformed the space into a modern Japanese-style garden with koi pond.

62m²

Silver-grey granite paving, bespoke pergola with planting troughs above, reinforced fibre glass pond, stainless steel waterfall.

Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’, Acer p. ‘Sangokaku’, Chamaecyparis obtusa, Fargesia ‘Jiuzhaigou’, Cryptomeria japonica, Larix kaempfari, Athyrium niponicum f. ‘Painted Lady’

Construction was a challenge. Digging the site revealed builder’s rubble (as expected) and several feet of heavy clay. It rained almost constantly in April.

The client was overjoyed at the finished result. I was invited to carefully nurture and shape the conifers over several years. I trained a ‘welcoming branch’ over the waterfall. One of the Japanese Sugi had a looped trunk.

The low evening sunlight would glance off the patio doors and cast shimmering rainbows through the waterfall…. a few minutes of magic.