Garden Designers & Landscape Gardeners
Garden Buildings in South & East England
The Garden of 5 Arches.
Left - the approach to the principal arch. The only path leading to the back of this long narrow garden curves in an 's' bend from one side to another making the garden seem wider than it is. The path is sunken between raised beds and completely controls your experience of the garden. The fences and gate here form a curving barrier from one side of the garden to the other, preventing our clients' sons and his friends getting to the pond at the back of the garden unaccompanied.
Right - the arch is made from solid oak and is referred to as the principal arch because it is bigger and made from heavier timber (20cm sq posts) than the other 4 arches. The fence was made from curving timber to match the line of the path. The seemless flowing line of the hardwood hand rail is an important tactile experience as you can run your hand along the curvature of your route. The wide tropical bamboo fence spindles and gate maintain the oriental character of the arch and reflect its dominant strength and character in the garden's composition, as well as keeping little people out of the back of the garden where the pond is and playing where they can be seen.
Left - the Zen garden design philosophy is used by us in much of our design work, even if the style of our work is not overtly Japanese. To use stepping stones like this in a curving path that disappears out of site arouses curiosity and forces you to concentrate on your steps. The changing curve also gives you a continually changing perspective of the garden by controlling the direction of your view, showing you different vistas and aspects of the plants, like the purple Acer 'Beni Otake' and the palm Trachycarpus fortunei at the apex of the curve.
Right - the arch stands 'side on' to the house so that you do not see its true size until you turn the corner of the path to walk under it. In the limited space of a city garden it is important to retain an element of surprise. You can catch a glimpse of the paths final destination here through the arch; the deck and bench are just visable.
This is the final destination at the back of the garden. You can hear it before you see it and although you can see glimpses of the deck and bench, it is only after walking around the 's' bend of the path, through the arch that you first see the pond. The waterfall rushes out from underneath the corner of the deck bringing you into close contact with the flowing water. You can look down into the flow and hear the rushing sound of it as you sit on the deck. The sound of the fall is carefully tuned so that it is not crashing but makes a rushing harmonious sound as it spills over 2 small drops before entering the pond. Learn more about our ponds and waterfalls with more examples and information on our Ponds and Waterfalls section.
This is the sunniest place in the garden and is backed by a wall which we painted a warm adobe colour. In the shelter of bamboo and far from the house you cannot be overlooked from the surrounding houses here - a valuable asset in highly populated London. The bench runs around 3 sides of the deck and can seat 12 people, see more of our seating designs in our Seats, Benches And Furniture section. If a table and chairs were place in the centre of the deck you could probably seat 8 people around it -see more examples of our deck designs on our Decks section. During the frequent family gatherings and parties hosted in this garden there can be as many as 17 people standing and sitting on this deck. It is also a great place for a gathering of mums after school where they can sit around the edge of the deck in the afternoon sun, with the central space of the deck open for toys and games and in close supervision of the children.
Left - the pond is a comma shape curving around an area of planting which obscures views straight to the deck at the back of the garden. Much of the stone around the edge of the pond here will be hidden by overhanging plants and marginal pond plants. The upright bamboo Semi arundinaria fastuosa is planted on the right of this photo and was chosen for this spot because it's upright culms will not arch over the path.
Right - This photo shows how we achieved a barrier right across the garden without it looking like one run of fencing, by following the curves of the 's' bend path and putting a gate across it. You can see the yellow culms of a young bamboo plant Phyllostachys vivax 'Aureocaulis' on the right of this photo and 3 Trachycarpus fortunei palms. The front 2 are planted at the apexes of the path's curves, marking the turning point in the paths. The large leaves of a young Paulownia tomentosa tree are in the centre of the photo bringing heavy jungle style foliage into the central view next to the arch and contrasting with the finer leaves of the purple Acer in the foreground.
Left - introducing the first four arches which frame the begining of your journey through the garden. We counteracted the long narrow shape of this garden by using its full width. The composition of the layout takes you from one side to the other as you walk through the garden on curving paths around the free form curved shapes of lawns and planting areas. The shape of the lawn dominates the view from the house and its curved shape is accentuated by the upright posts of the arches.
Right - even our sandstone patio is curving with all the angles of the slabs focusing your view to the lawn shape and the planting composition on the left whose border 'pushes' the lawn over.
left - the shape of the edge of the lawn is dictated by the changing angles of the arches and the stepping stones that run alongside it. Each stepping stone changes angle slightly, making the flowing curve more eyecatching and reinforcing the strength of this large central curving green shape that dominates the front part of the garden, making a run around space for our client's son and friends. In the foreground is a young ginger call Heydichium 'Tara', and on the fence behind the arches are several climbers that will eventually clothe the fence in evergreen foliage and perhaps grow a little way across the arches.
Right - this shot from the 1st floor shows how all of the shapes in this design interlock with the path taking you on a journey around and then through the free form curves.
This is a variation on RGC's staggered patio design using different widths of paving courses, mixed and laid with staggered joints. Here the overall shape is derived from 4 independent curves to create a dynamic form which will detract from the straight lines of the house and fences. You can see other exmaples of this design in our dedicated Patios section.
