A modern garden for a family home in Thame, Oxfordshire

This luxurious modern garden was created for a new residential property in Thame, Oxfordshire. Artscape worked with renowned garden designer, Pippa Purnell, in collaboration with the homeowners, to bring the wonderful scheme to life. The brief was to create an interesting, low maintenance garden full of year-round interest and functionality.

Low maintenance planting scheme

The plants were chosen to require minimal care and to remain looking good season after season. Key plants include Iris, Verbena, Miscanthus, a Japanese silver grass that can thrive in challenging conditions; hardy geraniums which have the potential to flower for months on end; Agapanthus, a drought-resistant evergreen with blue or white flowers; aromatic Monarda, also called bee balm, and Erigeron, which has aster-like flowers.

High quality hard landscaping

We built a large family-sized patio at the heart of the garden. This is spanned by a pergola which provides both shade and privacy. Steps that lead up to a raised path are bordered by the generous planting of perennials and grasses. The steps give access to the garage door, while the pathway leads to a secluded patio.

Other features include a delightful summerhouse that makes a beautiful focal point at the end of the garden, and extends the garden’s use all year round. Another is a raised bed which has an adjacent waterspout allowing water to trickle gently into the reservoir below. The garden also incorporates a wide range of seating options allowing the family and guests to enjoy either the sun or shade depending on their preferences. Note the reclining bespoke wooden seat amongst the planting which makes a pleasant spot to relax and enjoying the water feature and visiting birdlife.

“A garden we love”

The property owners were full of praise for the results achieved by Pippa Purnell and Artscape achieved, saying “Thanks to her talents and the excellent construction team we now have the most beautiful garden with many attractive features and year-round colour. It’s hard to believe how the space has been so totally transformed.”