This Essex Garden Design sketch was produced for a young professional couple who have recently moved into their property. Whilst the existing garden is neat and tidy it is a little dated, and the client wishes to update the scheme with a more modern approach.

The garden is on three levels, which must be retained in the end design. The couple would like to include lawn, as currently the garden is almost all paving. Steps lead directly up to the first level from the back door, with small circular paved area either side.  The area to the left offers a secluded spot in which to take morning coffee, while the one to the right will house a storage box for gardening tools and possibly bikes.

A low retaining wall creates a simple step up onto the first terrace, which is laid with a small paved circle large enough for a cafe style table and chairs. Retaining walls for the terraces could be constructed from a variety of materials ranging from railway sleepers, dry stone walls, concrete rendered blocks, or brick. However, we have suggested that the client seek professional advice from a structural engineer to determine suitable materials for the retaining walls, especially if they are to be over a metre in height. If you are considering including retaining walls in your garden, it is worth investigating whether you need to have them professionally designed, as a badly constructed retaining wall may develop dangerous defects.

Low maintenance is a key requirement for the couple, so planting in the space will be predominantly evergreen shrubs, using different leaf forms and colours to create interest and variety.

If you need some garden design advice, or have any questions regarding your garden, do feel free to get in touch with us at Earth Designs.

• Kat went to do a garden design in Chelsea this week and won a balcony garden design. Matt is due to go and measure up and the design and accompanying presentation will be drawn up in the coming week. The space is very small at and the brief is for a clean minimalist look.

• Work continues on our garden design Romania with the preliminary sketches being draw up and mood boards assembled. You can read about the project by clicking here. Preliminary sketches and layouts have begun on the top floor, with clients and Katrina having in email contact to discuss budgets and finishes.

• The Garden Design Journal  article on our roof terrace in Wapping has been uploaded to our blog. If you didn’t manage to read it in the last Journal week, you can now do so here and let us know what you think.

• The plants were collected and have now been planted for our garden design in Hackney. The site is almost finished, just some snagging and clearing and cleaning to go. This project was commissioned last year, but was postponed and delayed for various reasons, so it is great to have finally completed it.

• Earth Designs has been asked to become a contributor for Studio G, a garden design blog based in the USA. As well as writing regular features for the online blog, we have also been asked to contribute to the new sister publication LEAF magazine which is due to be launched in the New Year.

• We continue to work hard on all our wintery tasks: Matt on accounts and blog updates and Katrina on portfolio update and Facebook promotion.

• Katrina has another series of Garden Design Courses arranged for next week.  Earth Designs runs a series of short courses aimed at both budding and established designers. If you would like to book a Garden Design Course please get in touch.

Our concept sketch for this London garden design makes the most of the main design elements of the radio – simplicity and the starburst motif – to create a sleek, ordered and chic garden.

The bottom left corner of the garden contains a raised circular terrace surfaced with ‘wavey paving’ concrete slabs. Radiating from this terrace through a semi-circular lawn will be variously: a tapered granite sett path leading to a bespoke ‘starburst’ themed timber pergola, a tapered sunken rill water feature and two tapered planting beds containing herbaceous hedging. An arced rendered block wall curves around part of the edge of the lawn, tapering downwards from around 1 metre high to almost nothing where it meets the end of the granite sett path.

London Garden Design Inspirations: concept drawing inspired by Pye’s Bakelite Radio

 Earth Designs is a London garden design and build company specialising in modern garden landscapes and funky outdoor spaces.  We also offer a postal garden design service worldwide and garden design consultations in the London area.

The owners of this south London garden are looking for ideas for a garden design on a small budget. It is a large blank open space. The client desires a paved circle in Indian sandstone directly outside the back door. Indian sandstone comes in a variety of colours, and is a relatively cheap natural product to use in garden landscaping.  A pathway leads from the paved circle, overarched with a wooden pergola, constructed from railway sleepers or other such chunky timber. The pathway leads to a kidney shaped lawn, and continues around the edge of the lawn to terminate in a seconcd, larger Indian sandstone circle in the bottom corner right of the space. Placed to catch the last of the evening sun, this area could be used for dining or sunbathing. The shed in the bottom right of the space is placed to house bicycles, and is the least invisible position in the garden from the house.

Planting in the space will be cottage style, as the retired client enjoys gardening, and is happy to dedicate several hours a week to planting and maintenance.

This week Katrina travelled to Romania to re-visit Oliver and Alina. They contacted us a few years ago after reading an article about Earth Designs in Ideal Home Magazine. Katrina and Matt flew out in 2009 for a weekend to brainstorm ideas for the 1000 sq metre garden of their property in the country outside Bucharest, and produced a detailed design as a result. The huge plot was underdeveloped and the clients wished to make best use of it for both business and pleasure. They have subsequently implemented part of the scheme, but they recently decided that they would like to live closer to the heart of Bucharest and have swapped houses with Alina’s parents. Her parents have a large 5 bedroom property in central Bucharest which is much bigger than they need. However, the garden is much smaller than the one at Alina and Oliver’s house. Alina’s mother loves gardening and animals, so the larger garden she will gain from the house swap will afford her the opportunity to indulge her hobbies.

Alina and Oliver intend to divide the house in central Bucharest into separate areas for business, entertaining and everyday living. The top floor will be converted into a loft-style apartment, combining small scale living in a luxurious manner. The space has enough room to house an open plan dining area and living area, a new kitchen, a large bathroom and bedroom. The top floor also benefits from a roof terrace. They will need to install a front door at the top of the stairs that give access to this floor in order to make the space self contained.

The middle floor will be left relatively unchanged and will provide accommodation for overnight guests in three large en-suite bedrooms. The ground floor will be given over largely to work space, with Oliver’s business Brainovate sitting alongside Alina’s boutique handbag and scarf retail business. They want to provide a centralised work space for their team as well as an environment to bring clients to occasionally. Brainovate has four member of staff who currently work from home or out on site. The ground floor will also accommodate a space in which to entertain guests.

Their budget is quite limited, as they plan eventually to leave Romania for to settle in Barcelona. They are keen to move away from Alina’s parents taste and wish to contemporise the space and try to marry together the variety of conflicting styles that are built into the fabrication of the building. Blue glass block walls sit alongside steel balustrade in organic shapes, while the flooring is traditional style Italian tiling, so there is quite a mix up of styles and tastes. To try and find a suitable concept for a low cost solution is the nub of the design and the challenge that faces Katrina.

Due to budget constraints, Katrina felt that to make any structural changes or major modifications to existing features would be very difficult, and unless done well such attempts could end up drawing attention to themselves. So, the idea is to distract from the existing elements and make sure that there is enough interest from furnishings, finishings and colour in the space so that attention is pulled away from the disparate styles and focussed on stunning one–offs.

Outside, the garden is tiled throughout. As these are structurally sound, it seems foolish to go to the expense of replacing them, so again the design will focus on adding design elements to the space to increase the interest in other areas.

Alina and Oliver plan to use this space for entertaining and require it to have the ‘wow’ factor, so attention will be paid to choice of materials and to making the selected items work hard in the space to divert attention from the existing building and flooring.

Keep reading as the project develops and concepts unfurl….

This month we have a large article in the Garden Design Journal. The Journal is the flagship publication of the Society of Garden Designers (SGD). It is a stylish, inspirational and intelligent journal for all discerning garden designers and those working in associated industries and professions

Transforming one of London’s riverside decks into a fantasy work-and-play space reminiscent of the best Balearic club terraces is no easy task, but this Earth Designs balcony is a small triumph

PAUL AND Gemma Allred’s ground floor balcony flat is part of a block located on the north side of the Thames at Wapping, one of many developments that burst out of the ground in the 90s, part of the mammoth reinvention of the London docklands. The Allreds conform to the expected profile: young lawyers, keen to swap the fruits of their labours for their desired lifestyle.

The space was pretty uninspiring when the couple first moved in. “It was an identikit terrace with tired furniture, dead plants and dull grey concrete paving,” Gemma explains. “The lighting was terrible, so you couldn’t really use the space after dark; it wasn’t a very nice place to be.”The Allreds were impressed when they found the Earth Designs website via Google. “In particular, I liked that all their London garden designs seemed to reflect the personalities of the people they belonged to,” Gemma says. “Other companies we found seemed to specialise in the ‘one size fits all’ design philosophy.”

THE WOW FACTOR

What they really wanted was a wow factor, somewhere different where they could relax and entertain friends. As Ibiza regulars, they were very taken with the outside spaces in bars and clubs on the island. Their balcony needed to extend out interior of the flat, providing an extra room which would-come into its own at night, really making use of the fantastic “views of the river and Tower Bridge. Gemma wanted an injection of colour to relieve the overwhelming brick red of the building. There was some discussion about the colour theme between the clients and Earth Designs, but Gemma held out and her choice of purple and magenta prevailed. And indeed, during the day, the colour scheme is certainly the most arresting feature of the balcony garden design. A large purple daybed set on a raised platform accommodates comfortable views of Tower Bridge, while magenta mulch tops the planters.

At night, however, it is the furniture that really steals the show. It’s a clever choice – functional pieces that double as light sources. Made by an Italian company, Slide, in robust polyethylene, the individual items – bench, table, stools, water feature, planters and column lights – are all wired in beneath the yellow balau decking. It manages to provide everything needed to fill the space without it looking cluttered -which would certainly be the case had the designer, Katrina Kieffer-Wells, decided to use uncoordinated items.

The balcony now enjoys considerably more use: “We have quite a few dinner parties; the table and bench, together with the timber ‘decking’ stools allows us to seat 10 people comfortably. We also eat out there in the summer, and having outside sockets turns it into a great workspace, “We feel the balcony now makes the most of the views, while still retaining our privacy. It’s also an important part of our interior space – the external lighting provides a brilliant atmosphere inside as well, so we switch it on every night.”

FACING THE ELEMENTS

The balcony is at ground level (technically, just above)- separated from the Thames Path by a brick planter that runs the length of the building and intercepts the prying eyes of passers-by. Despite this, the design and build were not without challenges. “The biggest problem was the building regulations,” Katrina says. “We couldn’t attach anything to the walls-or build anything above a certain height. There is also a car park beneath if which meant any loading needed to be thought through. One of our more difficult briefs – to create privacy without using height!”

Earth Designs has built its fair share of balconies. “There are a lot of practical elements to be considered when designing for balconies and roof terraces,” says Katrina. “Firstly you’re dealing with a hard surface which you can’t dig down into, so planting at ground level is very restricted. Weight loading is always in the back of your mind as well, and planters can’t just be filled with compost, as their weight especially when wet – can put excessive strain on the roof joists beneath. A lightweight medium which drains easily has to be used instead. “These sorts of sites are likely to be very exposed, and high winds will tear through planting and knock over things that aren’t battened down or weighty enough to resist. Planting must also be carefully chosen to tolerate the conditions. And, of course, access is nearly always an issue. We’ve seen it all: penthouses on the 23rd floor, spiral staircases, the lot!

“It’s very important during the initial consultation for the designer to provide as much information as possible, and make the client aware of any possible issues. Often people don’t appreciate the importance of the load-bearing capabilities of a surface. They understand the challenges of difficult access but not weight restrictions. Also, the more difficult the access the higher the bill, I’m afraid!”

Katrina Kieffer-Wells has run her Walthamstow-based design and build business since 2003. She has no formal landscape training, but draws on her creative arts degree and a background in event production and floral design. She says: “We felt we had something to offer and were tenacious – we’re now on job number 185, so we must be doing something right!”

Katrina believes an understanding of art and design should be the cornerstone of the designer’s approach. To stress this, Earth Designs is offering a series of occasional workshops for garden designers to learn how to take inspiration from sources outside garden design. “We go to places like the Tate and the V&A, and choose a piece of art or design as a starting point for a garden design. It’s a really good way to get designers back to their creative bones and less bogged down with structure and planting.”

Katrina has a somewhat unorthodox approach to her designs: “When I see a client, I design there and then, at the initial meeting. Yes, it’s a bit unusual, but it’s a dynamic approach that works for me.” Not surprisingly Katrina cites Diarmuid Gavin as one of her influences. “He allowed the ordinary person to aspire to owning a unique designer space, and I admire him for that.” Neatly bringing us back to the Wapping balcony, which is just that: a unique designer space.

If you would like a ‘unique designer garden’ please contact us.

• This week Katrina flew east to consult for a garden design in Romania. Oliver and Alina employed Earth Designs a few years ago to come up with a garden design for their house on the outskirts of Bucharest. They had seen our work in Ideal Home Magazine and were taken by our design style. They have now swapped houses with Alina’s parents to move closer to the city centre and so have contacted us again for help. They have also asked Katrina to devise a scheme for the interior, which is to be a contemporary work/live/play space. To read about the project and see the concepts please click here.

• Matt continues work on the garden in Hackney. The beds are dug over ready for planting next week, and the paving is now close to completion.

• Matt has secured another small job, to construct a hardwood decking bench and install artificial lawn in a garden in Stoke Newington .

• A previous client for whom we undertook a garden design and build in Harrow has contacted us to request our ‘One Day Attack’ garden clearance service. Matt will do this in the next couple of weeks.

• One of Katrina’s students has contacted her to sign up for her short course in Sketch up for Garden Design. They are setting themselves up in business and would also like some general advice on how best to approach certain aspects of her new garden design practice. If you are a budding garden designer, or are already practising and would like to improve your work, do call us to find out how a couple of days spent with Katrina could help revolutionise your business. Katrina offers several 1-, 2- and 3-day Garden Design Courses.

• Work continues on revamping our garden design portfolio. It is a long process, but Katrina is slowly ploughing through it.

• We will feature in this month’s Garden Design Journal, the Society of Garden Design’s flagship publication. It is a stylish, inspirational and intelligent journal for all discerning garden designers and those working in associated industries and professions. You can read the full article on our facebook page in a few days.

• We are working hard as well on raising our Facebook profile. Winter is the ideal time for us to concentrate on marketing. There are usually less designs in the studio and we have the opportunity to ensure that our house is in order to ensure that we are visible to the maximum amount of potential clients when the market picks up in the spring. If you are a Facebook user and haven’t yet visited Earth Designs on Facebook, please click on our profile to ‘become a fan’ and follow our ‘goings on’ on a daily basis. Our status updates also link to Twitter if you prefer to tweet.

This fun, dynamic London garden design concept is taken from an energetic wall sculpture by iconic pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. The simplicity of the sculpture is echoed in the garden design, using only three landscaping materials to create a secluded, unique and highly individual space.

A ‘splat’ of red polished poured concrete or resin bonded aggregate installed in the centre of the space will accommodate an iconic white oval Conran table and chairs. Varied lengths of painted landscaping poles sticking out of the ground at jaunty angles around the perimeter of the concrete patio will create the illusion of a vertical explosion. Wire mesh or netting installed between these poles will enclose the central patio to create a private and visually energetic area suitable for dining and entertaining. Lush, thick planting around the edge of the garden will add to the sheltered feel.

London Garden Design Inspirations: concept drawing inspired by Lichtenstein

Earth Designs specialises in contemporary garden design in London.  For bespoke garden design in London, Hertfordshire, Kent or Essex please visit our website at Earth Designs.  We also offer Garden design consultations for London and postal designs worldwide.

London Garden Design Before Shot 1

A London garden design for a young professional male.  This plot is a medium sized family garden in a mid-terrace Victorian property. The client is a professional architect, who is currently renovating the interior of the property to high specifications. The design of the exterior space should reflect the style of the interior renovations while making it accessible to the entire family. It should include a children’s play area yet avoid placing play equipment in a prominent and visible position. There is a large tree in the bottom left corner of the space which should also be considered in the design. The left hand boundary of the space is currently open, along which the client will be constructing a yellow London stock brick wall prior to work commencing on the garden.

The design fuses elements of formal English gardens and Japanese landscape design, to create a simple yet stylish layout to the space. The garden is divided into two distinct areas on two levels, with a Japanese-inspired screen towards the end of the space forming a focal point to the garden.

The area directly adjoining the house will be laid with white porcelain tiles (to be supplied by the client) edged with black granite setts, which will act as a continuation of the interior flooring. Stretching the width of the space and extending from the house by 3 metres, this paving will offer ample space for al fresco breakfasting or dining. Six ‘cut-outs’ in the paving, arranged in a line across the space and planted with 30cm buxus sempervirens (box ball) will give this area an added air of grace and poise.

The middle portion of the garden will contain a formal rectangular lawn edged with black granite setts. A shallow bed running down the left hand side of the lawn will elegantly planted with alternating buxus sempervirens and stipa gigantica, to create a simple planting pattern in keeping with the formal styling of the space.

London Garden Design Before Shot 2

To the right of the space, adjoining the paved area, a 1.5m – 2.0m long bench seat, constructed from new railway sleepers and backed by a railway sleeper planter containing 3m high Phyllostachys Aurea (bamboo), will offer opportunity for contemplation, relaxation or informal entertaining. Behind this bench/planter combination, decked steps will lead up to a balustraded decking walkway (approx. 50cm high) running down the right side of the space. After approximately 4 metres, a second set of steps will take the walkway to approximately 1 metre off the ground. At this height the walkway will dog-leg left into the garden to allow for the inclusion of a railway sleeper seat and raised planter similar to the one at ground level.

Towards the end of the space the walkway will turn left at a 90 degree angle and travel across the space behind a Japanese style screen to terminate in a large square platform beneath the tree in the bottom left of the space. Steps will lead from here down to a rubber-floored children’s play area concealed behind the screen, with a second set of steps running from the platform to the lawn below. A bespoke wooden monkey ladder stretching across the play area will serve as both a climbing frame and a secure structure from which the client may hand a swing, rope and other play items. For extra adventure, the inclusion of an opening in the side of the decking walkway will allow the void beneath the walkway to be used as a tunnel between the play area and the garden proper.

London Garden Design Plan