No space is too small to create a haven of calm. This client came to us hoping we could help after an extension had made her already small courtyard garden even smaller. We love a challenge at Tilia Garden Design and we were determined to create a calming green haven for our client that can be enjoyed from both within from the floor to ceiling biofold doors and from outside.

This client wanted a complete garden redesign after some trees were removed and left some open gaps and plenty of shrubs that had out grown their spaces. They also wanted to incorporate some plants from their home country of New Zealand whose climate is not that dissimilar to our own here in the UK.

The brief for this project was to create a calm and tranquil space to relax in but to also still have space for entertaining and for the grandchildren to play. The clients had just moved into a new build so the garden was a blank canvas. I decided to go with a simple circle lawn. For the planting design I edged the lawn with a selection of large shrubs and perennials for year round interest and colour, with bulbs added for pops of colour in spring and summer and tall grasses punctuating the planting in later summer and autumn. The seedheads and grasses are left throughout winter for interest and accented with repeating Hebes which provide structure to the garden. The client is very pleased with how the garden design and planting design has evolved over the years.

The brief: The garden needs attention after extensive building work in the house and the client would like to create a garden space for relaxing and entertaining that is low maintenance and provides year round interest from both outside and as a view through the windows and doors at the rear of the house.