Garden Design for an Active Family, North London
BRIEF
We were commissioned to create a garden design that could meet the varied and changing needs of an active family in North London.
The brief was particularly challenging because the garden needed to accommodate a sizeable area where the children could play football while also providing more secluded spaces where the parents could relax and feel that they could properly inhabit the garden.
There also needed to be a productive area and generous space for dining and entertaining.
The clients were keen gardeners, so the planting scheme needed to provide year-round interest while leaving opportunities for them to experiment with new plants themselves as the garden developed.
DESIGN SOLUTION
We carefully divided the garden into areas for activity and areas for relaxation using a combination of walls, new trees and raised planting beds.
The rectangular raised beds respond to the architecture of the house and were built at varying heights to create interest and frame the planting.
They also perform a very practical function: helping protect both the plants and family members sitting on the terrace from stray footballs.
A ‘portal’ was created within the boundary wall to provide access to the fruit and vegetable garden. This opening aligns with a circular water feature, ensuring that the practical connection also contributes to the visual structure of the garden.
A new yoga studio was built into the boundary wall to create a small private retreat with views towards woodland beyond. Its position makes intelligent use of the available space while creating interesting views both into and out of the garden.
Along the house, a new pergola with a retractable roof provides adaptable shade for dining and relaxation.
We worked closely with the clients for more than a year, developing a garden that successfully accommodates active family life without allowing the play requirements to overwhelm the quieter, more planted parts of the landscape.
We are often asked to come up with creative garden design solutions to provide both play areas for children and a beautiful garden for the grow ups, as we did in this garden design Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire
