garden rewilding project

Another fantastic brief: A semi-rural family garden that had once been full of life, but had been stripped and used as a football practice range. The new owners wanted to rewild it, improve biodiversity as much as possible, restore it as part of the wildlife corridor, and create a beautiful & colourful nature haven for their family and the hedgehogs they lovingly rehabilitate in their garden annexe.

They wanted bountiful planting with fruit trees and bushes, roses and a wildflower glade. With not just a wildlife pond, but also a babbling stream running down the length of the meadow which the children could play in. So we decided to keep that separate from the pond; the water would be pumped uphill from a reservoir and constantly recirculated. Then naturalised with rocks and moving-water aquatic plants, and surrounded with marginal and meadow planting. The pond would then be planted with still-water plants, and the whole area surrounded by lush planting to provide year-round interest.

Down the steps is the play area and dappled, shady woodland planting, leading to the annex and memorial tree.

They also have a South-facing terrace they want to make the most of, with lots of colourful and aromatic Mediterranean plants in planters around the seating area and trailing over the railings. The front garden also has a couple of planting areas for which I designed a small cottage garden scheme, and an evergreen shade scheme with a climbing rose to grow up around the front door.