Contemporary Meets Heritage
Llevelo Garden Design were commissioned to support a planning application for a new dwelling. The original home was a gate keepers lodge is Grade II* Listed. This is extremely rare and reflects the properties remarkable heritage. Humphry Repton was an original landscape designer to the property. Therefore design sensitivity was called for to ensure the new contemporary style of the current custodians was applied with delicacy.
One element of the garden design brief was the demonstrate that the new dwelling was inextricably linked to the original lodge. The design solution to this was to create shared spaces, both physically and visually.
Lawns and Modern Garden Styling
The two dwellings are connected through the garden. A large terraced (flat level) lawn is easily reached from both. The home owners wanted to pursue a contemporary and modern garden style. One way that we look to achieve this is through the use of strong geometry.
The rectangular lawn is lined with ‘box head’ pleached trees. This means trees that have quite literally been trained into a box shape (and has nothing to do with the plant ‘Buxus’ more commonly known as ‘box’). The collection of trees in this way creates a striking impact which can be easily seen from both properties and also serves as a neat visual divider of the formal and informal areas of the garden.
We have worked on an array of garden styles and designs from relaxing wellness gardens to contemporary landscapes. But what is it about each that defines each into a specific category? As with all good design, there is rarely one defining feature but, more often, a series of small details. Together these combine to create a constant and lasting impression.
Garden Secrets and hidden Pathways
We decided to plant a double row of trees which bought extra dynamism and drama to the space. This pathway can only be appreciated from one corner of the garden and from the swimming pool area, but neither end is especially prominent.
“We always say that: a garden should encourage you to take ‘just one more step’.”
Therefore the aim of placing hidden pathways in this manner is to fulfil this notion of intimacy and discovery which should then bring an element of excitement and exploration.
The strong presence of the trees at eye level will add to feelings of excitement as you wander along the path. The visual frame that they bring to the space aims to make the path irresistibly inviting.
Deliberately, the path is not obvious until you discover it from one end. Halfway along is a second pathway which leads to an entirely separate section and can not be clearly seen from the ends. From the lawn, the start of this second pathway can be seen (unlike the pathway between the trees). So seeing both paths simultaneously is only possible when inside the garden.
The design aim here is encouragement to further explore by offering the possibility of other hidden pathways. For what else might you find when you wander? What other secrets is the garden holding just waiting to be shared with you, the intrepid explorer? This is of course a slight over dramatisation of the emotions that our garden design aims to unleash however if the wanderer feels just a hint of excitement then we’d be pleased to have created this unexpected joy.
