Client brief:
Lawn-free garden design. Clients asked us to create a lawn-free design ideas that are easy to maintain, dog-friendly, and safe for elders and grandchildren to enjoy. Clients want a water feature and it must be child-safe. A workshop and pergola were ‘must-haves’ too and much-loved roses.
Design response
This Bedfordshire garden needs a complete transformation from a garden that isn’t right for my clients anymore. With 3 beautiful dogs who were regularly destroying the lawn and bringing muddy paws into the house. Brave decision made easy when we discussed the benefits of a paved garden with break-out beds for perennial planting. We want a planting scheme that invites nature and creates habitat even if tightly choreographed.
The overarching design even without the lawn still invokes a welcome with comforting leading curves that invite you to move into the space. We have created a calm and easy-to-be-in garden sanctuary for all the family to enjoy.
Deciding to create a lawn-free garden design makes complete sense for this family. The pergola installation is a key element of the design because the garden faces west. Summer evenings spent sitting on the porcelain terrace under the shade of a pergola what’s not to love?
The water feature comprises a large Westmoreland stone positioned onto a steel grill with a gravel garden around it. You can’t beat the sound of trickling water as a soundscape in the garden. Our client’s grandchildren are painting stones and placing them around the garden.
Verbena bonariensis and ornamental grasses pull focus in a circular bed in the middle of the garden. A lovely see-through border that clients enjoy from their kitchen window.
Landscaping by Garden Webb