Parterre and Formal Gardens, Bath

Parterre and Formal gardens.

Example 1

Brief

To create a smart evergreen garden that is consistently attractive from all angles and links the gravel drive to stone under croft.

Before

The house, formerly divided in flats, had recently become a family home again but the front garden remained separate and made it difficult to access the under croft which lead to the back garden.

Solution

Various steps and walls were removed to create one level, opening up the space to the front garden. Parterre style beds were formed by timber edges and in filled with gravel paths. A simple arrangement of purple, white and green plants, with clipped topiary and box hedges, created a striking design viewed either at ground level or upstairs.

Example 2

Brief

To re instate a family garden where once stood a nursing home in one of Baths most historic settings.

Solution

The Grade 1 Georgian house had been converted back in to a family home and needed a garden appropriate to its location and use.

Parts of the balustrade were found buried in the garden and these were used to re model the new balustrade enclosing the paved terrace. A large piece if tufa was also discovered and found to be listed, so this became a feature in one of the borders.

I created a new formal lawn and surrounded it with a robust block planting scheme of evergreen shrubs, thus becoming an attractive area for children’s play. Additional seasonal flushes of colour from wisteria and lavender mixed in with box hedges and topiary, ensured this garden maintained a minimalist and formal character. By raising the canopy of the existing trees I kept some maturity in the garden which helped it merge with the surrounding landscape of Victoria Park.