City Courtyard Garden, Montpelier

The clients were mid-renovation of the whole property but were very forward-thinking and wanted to look at getting the garden done in tandem with the house renovation.

When I initially viewed the garden in the summer of 2022, it was full of concrete and building waste and, unfortunately, had a large clump of knotweed growing very happily in the middle of it all, so this was the first thing we had to tackle with specialist help before anything else could happen.

The couple knew they wanted a design which allowed for maximum relaxation and entertaining but with a relatively easy to maintain planting scheme. I’m fond of telling people there’s no such thing but that I’ll try my best!

The new garden is accessed via the kitchen and opens straight on to a sunny little breakfast terrace in a light porcelain stone, with room for two comfortable chairs and table, and also a a small bed for culinary herbs.

The garden then steps up to a self-binding gravel terrace, within an encompassing rectangle of planting. I initially wanted the beds to be bigger but they got pushed back slightly to allow for more space for entertaining and sitting. A lovely big bespoke sofa has been installed with room for more chairs as and when is required.

The walls have all been wired up for climbers which should provide a really green backdrop over time, with evergreen clematis and jasmine for scent, a climbing hydrangea, and semi-evergreen honeysuckles planted to the perimeters. Other planting includes sacred bamboo, sarcococca, ferns, grasses and wild ginger. Both of the clients wanted some hot vibrant colours so we included some iris, some crocosmia, some foxtail lily and a bright coral stem Japanese maple. Two enormous tree ferns provide some real drama with their huge fronds providing some additional shade during a hot day.

Lastly, a local artist, Carla James, was commissioned to paint a tropical botanical back drop on the terrace wall, with hummingbirds and butterflies flitting through some bird of paradise flowers, and this will also gives the garden some real colour over the winter months.

It’s a simple design which, once it all beds in, should feel like a proper oasis right in the centre of the city. The clients have been using it almost every weekend, so a good testimony to the space.