Sloping Garden Design Hartley Wintney Hampshire
Medium-sized sloping garden design in Hartley Wintney
The garden design brief
This medium-sized sloping rear garden in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire needed a re-design following a rear extension. The clients wanted to revamp the entire rear garden to make it more suitable for their lifestyle now they were both nearing retirement. The garden design brief included a large upper terrace for dining, a lower terrace for lounging, and a further small terrace for catching the evening sun. The clients wanted to retain some lawn for grandchildren to play on, and include a small summer house for enjoying the garden during the evenings or when the weather was cold and wet. Another key requirement for the garden design was a child safe water feature. The clients asked for a curved garden design scheme to match the curved island in their new kitchen.
The garden design
The garden design includes a curved dining terrace on the upper level which is accessible directly from the existing house and kitchen extension. The rear of the house can be completely opened up to give seamless indoor/outdoor flow. Curved steps wrap around the front of the terrace where it joins the kitchen extension to provide access to the lower garden area. On the lower terrace is a curved-profile terrace with space for loungers, and a lawn also with sweeping curves. A sinuous path wraps around the perimeter and connects the side entrances of the garden. A water feature makes use of the level change between the upper and lower terraces. A small seating area along the rear boundary can be used for catching the last of the sun and is paved with a patterned tile.
The garden design challenges
The garden is on a slope and dealing with sloping gardens is always challenging. Fitting in everything on client’s wish list is more difficult with sloping gardens and a lot of design time went into creating the retaining walls and steps to make sure the garden was useable and fully accessible whilst still meeting requirements.
Setting the house in its plot
One of the main aims of any garden design is to set the house into its plot and this is particularly important when you are designing a sloping garden. It is very easy to leave the house looking like it's perched on top of a hill if you do not carefully consider the transitions between the garden levels. The wide, shallow steps provide an easy transition to the lower garden area as well as adding some architectural detail that stops the eye and helps blend in the retaining wall. The water feature is another great way to provide interest to the garden design scheme and help seat the house in its plot. The use of sweeping curves adds symmetry to the garden and also helps to draw the eye around the garden and soften the scheme and the house into the surrounding landscape. The planting including the boundary hedging is also key to marrying the house, garden and their surroundings. A mixture of shrubs and herbaceous perennial planting soften the hard landscaping and blend the house into the garden.
Before
After
Sloping Garden Design Crowthorne Berkshire
Boundary screening for privacy
The garden is overlooked on all sides, but the rear boundary was the most problematic due to a new housing development immediately behind the house. The garden design introduced a raised bed along the length of the garden boundary to give the planting some additional height. The existing fences were painted black and the raised border was planted with Pleached Carpinus (Hornbeam), underplanted with Pittosporum 'Golf Ball' cut into a cloud hedge. This planting created sufficient privacy so that the clients do not feel exposed when using any part of the garden.
The curves and steps
The garden was designed around a series of intentional, symmetrical curves that give the garden gentle movement. The curved steps not only give access to the lower garden, but their width adds drama and informal seating to the garden. All step treads were bullnosed in-situ. It's this kind of attention to detail that give the garden its unique, luxurious feel .
The water feature design
The water feature was designed to create interest and texture and introduce a gentle background noise. Water flows from a reservoir on top of the upper terrace retaining wall, over a stone lip, cascading down the front of the wall which was clad with black split-face stone tiles, and into a pavement reservoir on the lower level which is secured with a metal grille. The water feature is a great focal point for the garden and is very easy to maintain.
Keeping people safe
The clients have young grandchildren and were very concerned that they should be able to use the garden with minimum supervision. The upper terrace is secured by a glass and steel balustrade along the side adjacent to the path. A border runs along the top, curved edge of the upper terrace where it joins the retaining wall and this prevents anyone from stepping off accidentally.