Clifton Courtyard Garden

The clients had recently moved in and decided fairly quickly to make the garden a priority. Their lovely apartment didn’t need a huge amount of work so it made sense to focus on making the outdoor space more useable and private.

It was pretty much a blank canvas when I arrived. It had a warm stone wall, and a mature Griselinia hedge but other than that not much else to recommend it.

A new shed, built by the clients themselves, was installed which gave some direction and drive to the master plan, giving rise to two seating areas within the garden - one for relaxing and the other for outdoor dining; both of them feel peaceful, tucked away from neighbours. The sofa area to the back of the garden feels cool and quiet, canopied overhead with scented and evergreen climbers, which grow over the pergola and across the shed.

A new focal point from the galley kitchen directs the gaze down to the end of the garden, in the form of a water bowl on a plinth, as well as providing water for the birds to drink and bathe in. The client has become a robin whisperer in the time she’s been there and they now eat from her hand.

Two raised composite deck walkways either side of a long planting bed, stepping down either end on to limestone terraces. A gravel planting bed near the house separates one terrace from the house and softens a difficult corner, whilst not obscuring the light to the basement flat below.

The resulting garden now provides a green quiet space to enjoy all year round.