Below you can see the Concept Plan for a hillside garden near Sowerby Bridge. The garden and house overlook a beautiful landscape of rolling, and sometimes rugged hills. The Clients want to take advantage of the views whilst also giving themselves some privacy since they themselves can also be seen from the surrounding hills. They wanted a garden that sits quietly and traditionally within the landscape, with no bling, and they want to be surrounded by “higgeldy piggeldy” trees in rough grass. Because of the steep gradients, access to the house from the road is complex. At present it is difficult to get a car through the small gap in the wall at the top of the hill behind the house. It’s also tricky getting the car out! A new drive is required and the designed solution is for concentric circles of Yorkshire stone setts with stabilised grass or stone chippings between the circles. This answers all the practical needs and also sits quietly within the landscape and responds to the Spirit of the Place.
Above: The Concept Plan for a sloping garden near Sowerby Bridge. There are two options for the front garden (to the south-west of the house) shown. The first option has two paved terraces and a flat lawn, while the second option has one paved terrace and an upper lawn as well as a lower lawn. When the Clients have firmly decided which layout they prefer I will prepare a detailed Master Plan. This will allow for the work of building the garden to be competitively, and accurately, priced.
A two metre high retaining wall at the back of the house holds up the hillside, and steps are laid out with the existing contours of the land in order to minimise impact. Hedges, trees and carefully sited resting areas break up the hard landscaping.
Below you will see some of the illustrations that I made to accompany the Concept Plan so that the Clients (and I!) could better understand how the different spaces within the garden “work”, and how they will relate to each other and to the house.
This type of drawing is called an exploded bird’s eye view. It shows how the front garden will look when seen from above, but with added perspective. It is easy to see that the design answers the Brief: it is simple, and there are areas of intimate enclosure, and lots of lovely trees.
Above you see a perspective sketch of the view from part way up the front garden looking through the gap in the hedges to the south-west. This sketch shows the second option for the front garden with an upper lawn and a lower lawn.
A perspective sketch from the upper lawn looking back towards the house. A water trough against a traditional stone wall and under a Cherry tree will catch the falling blossom in spring so that the petals peacefully float on the water.
I hope that you have enjoyed reading about this garden design. If you are interested in talking to me about your own garden please contact me via my website at www.earthworksnorth.co.uk; or by emailing cheri@earthworksnorth.co.uk; or by calling me on 07958199403. I work throughout Yorkshire.
If you are interested in learning more about garden design please ask about the garden design courses that I teach at RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Harrogate. I am looking forward to hearing from you!