19th Century Cottage Garden, Brockham

The main brief for both front and rear gardens was to look like it had been there forever. The 1820s cottage had recently had a kitchen extension to the rear, so I created a reclaimed York stone terrace surrounded with a cottage styled naturalistic planting which takes in the countryside views beyond. 

The front garden involved turning an ugly mound into something more beautiful to accommodate two entrances to the front door and planting, and an extended parking area or up to 4 cars. Here we removed a huge leylandii hedge, retained the new gravel parking area with reclaimed sleepers. York stone steps and two paths lead to the front door around which we have re-created a beautiful wooden porch – porches can be beautiful! The main planting here is within a sleeper bed, with smaller beds guiding you towards the front door.  Lighting is subtle but enhances the routes to the cottage.