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Colour with evergreens garden

Clients’ brief:

Clients had carefully considered the outline plan of their new build garden and had already cut lawn into lovely sweeping curves. They had also planted Thuja plicata hedging to aid privacy and green-up the garden boundaries. With a specific covenent (easement) in place at the back of the garden, the planting plan had to allow for immediate removal if in the event of an emergency, access to a large water pipe installed below the lawn, needed to be worked on.

With this specific challenge in mind we selected shallow rooted ornamental grasses in this part of the garden which is south-facing. As the grasses grow taller they will create a light screening between the dining area and BBQ. The colour palette was created by designing with all evergreen perennials, to create a strong presence in the garden, all year round. Using a restrained colour palette influenced by my clients love of dark colours, I selected evergreens and ornamental grasses with colours to compliment the steel grey pergola and deep green of the Thuja plicata hedging.

Grasses

Carex testacia ‘Prairie Fire’ (New Zealand Sedge)
Hakonechloa macra (Japanese forest grass)
Imperata cylindrica ‘Rubra’ (Japanese blood grass)
Stipa gigantea (Golden oats)
Stipa tenuissima (Mexican feather grass)

Evergreens

Cornus sericea ‘Flaviramea’ (Golden-twig dogwood)
Fatsia japonica ‘Spider’s Web’ (Speckled Japanese aralia)
Picea pungens ‘Globosa’ (Colorado spruce)
Pieris japonica ‘Little Heath’
Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Barrow Bay’

Client review ~