‘Le patron mange ici‘ – this is my own recently-acquired garden in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. At around 100 sq m it is a typical size plot for a British town garden, and has excellent views across the Chilterns that I was keen to enhance.
The layout we inherited was also typical, with a narrow border with evergreens and some perennials snaking around the perimeter. I was looking for a design that could be implemented quickly, without recourse to substantial amounts of hard landscaping.
I took the decision to divide the garden informally into three, with a wide terrace by the house and a simply-planted end of the garden preserving the views over distant hills, with movement between the two between densely planted borders. These borders boldly fill the width of the garden, with the depth of them allowing a richness of planting that is not possible in a narrow border.
A gauze-like planting midway delicately divides the small space into two ‘rooms’, giving a greater sense of movement and space within the garden, whilst allowing views through the planting.