The Brief
Following the complete rebuild of the client’s 1930s home, the existing garden felt overgrown and disjointed — a space without calm or cohesion.
The brief was to create a minimalist, Zen-inspired garden that connected meaningfully with the new architecture — a place for outdoor living, quiet reflection, and natural beauty. Key features such as the Monkey Puzzle and Japanese Maple, rich with family memory, were to be retained as anchors of continuity and care.
The Design Response
The garden was designed as a contemporary extension of the architecture, using clean geometry and controlled planting to bring order and calm to the space. A series of crisp, linear routes guide movement through the garden, linking the house to key moments of use while framing views back toward the building.
A steel pergola creates a strong architectural anchor close to the house, forming a shaded terrace that extends daily living outdoors. Beyond this, the lawn is set within softly shaped planting beds, allowing the structure of the layout to remain legible while the planting brings seasonal variation and movement.
Materials were selected to complement the modern form of the house. Large-format porcelain paving defines the main circulation routes and terraces, while pale gravel paths soften transitions between spaces and support drainage. The restrained palette allows the planting to take prominence without competing with the architecture.
Planting is layered and naturalistic in character, combining ornamental grasses, ferns, and small trees to provide texture, screening, and year-round interest. These softer elements counterbalance the strong lines of the layout and help the garden settle into its wider landscape setting.
The result is a garden that feels both precise and relaxed — structured enough to reflect the architecture, yet planted in a way that brings life, softness, and long-term maturity to the space.
Client Testimonial
“Tom helped us achieve our dream garden. He began by translating our ideas into a scheme we could never have imagined ourselves, then guided us through every stage of bringing it to life.
His vision, attention to detail, and genuine passion for the craft were evident throughout. We now spend far more time outside — it’s not just a garden, it’s a sanctuary.”