Large eco-friendly garden with views in Buckinghamshire
This large rural residential garden design and landscaping renovation project in Buckinghamshire transformed the existing outdoor space into a delightful, eco-friendly haven with stunning views. The client’s brief was for a contemporary and environmentally-friendly countryside garden design with defined areas for relaxing and dining. The homeowners wanted to reduce the hard landscaping and replace this with new terraces and planting.
We took out the large expanses of unsightly paving and introduced new landscaping elements in natural, sustainable materials. New more inviting natural stone and gravel passageways add mystique and interest while also dividing the garden into separate zones. Other hard and soft landscaping elements included building new gates, steps and pathways and planting of trees, shrubs and wild flowers. These new areas were devised to provide division, privacy, colour, scent and movement within the garden. We opened up vistas across the adjacent fields by replacing ranch fencing with estate fencing. Water features were also included for atmospheric sound and focal points, and these are especially effective when the garden is illuminated at night.
A garden designed with nature in mind
The team created a new narrow border at the front of the house where we planted a more formal arrangement. A new hornbeam hedge encloses a small courtyard, and also screens the driveway and bin area. Native hornbeam has dense foliage which makes a good nesting site; and the catkins it produces in spring turn into small fruits enjoyed by birds. A new gravel garden featuring geometric plants and herb beds leads from the driveway gate to the back door and a new seating area.
Gravel is decorative and functional and comes in a wide range of colours, sizes, and textures which makes it incredibly versatile. Gravel is an effective security material too as its distinct, crunch sound alerts the homeowner that someone is approaching.
Dining and seating terraces
The breakfast terrace, which seats six at a round table, has an outdoor sideboard cabinet for storing tableware and seat cushions. A lounging area has been surrounded by beautiful planting on three sides to create a more intimate feel, and this terrace is accessed from the lawn via hidden stepping stone paths.
Water features
A raised circular water feature, with contemporary-style drystone walling and sawn coping, acts as a fabulous focal point from the back door. The paved path leads around the water feature, to the new field gate and out towards the rest of the garden. A low-level bowl water feature sits within a gravel path dividing the lounging and dining terraces and this is again surrounded by planting. A wildflower meadow at the bottom of the garden was created to add colour and help bees and other important insects to thrive
The design of this Buckinghamshire garden illustrates the beauty of working with nature to create a feeling of space and openness combined with distinct private areas for relaxing or socialising. Informal, naturalistic planting works beautifully in this contemporary, countryside garden. And, as shown here, trees and plants are a great way to enhance views, conceal eyesores or provide screening and privacy.
