Garden Tour: Sweeping Curves Make a Long, Narrow Plot Feel Wider
Just over six metres in width, but 38 metres long, this garden demanded a clever design to make every bit of it inviting
A long, thin garden shape like this one is the lot of many town and city dwellers, but no less of a design challenge for all its ubiquity. Garden designer Kate Eyre’s solution for this London garden? A curvilinear design that moves your eye to the left and right to make the space seem wider, plus features that tempt you to explore its length.
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This article is from our Most Popular stories file
The couple asked Kate for a garden that was contemporary – but that felt like a garden. “They wanted functional but beautiful and chic,” she says. A lounging area, a dining space, and a gym at the far end were essential components. As for upkeep? “Low maintenance, but everybody always [wants that],” Kate says.
The shape of the garden needed a design solution. “With long and thin, my recommendation is that you need to be pulled down the garden, and I suggested a destination point at the end by the gym,” Kate says. “If you don’t have anywhere you need to go, you don’t go down it.”
The shape of the garden needed a design solution. “With long and thin, my recommendation is that you need to be pulled down the garden, and I suggested a destination point at the end by the gym,” Kate says. “If you don’t have anywhere you need to go, you don’t go down it.”
The back of the house was extended, which involved some digging down. The garden also slopes, so as well as the dimensions, level changes needed to be accommodated in the design.
Kate knew the extension would be glazed. “I wanted the curved feeling to be immediate, and that’s why we had two different surfaces [in the seating area],” she says.
The left side is laid with paving, while the right features ipe hardwood decking; the curve between them draws the eye down the space.
Kate opted for porcelain paving rather than stone. “Because it’s factory-made, you get a finer finish. Laying it, there’s far less variation, so it’s easier to manage,” she says.
Kate knew the extension would be glazed. “I wanted the curved feeling to be immediate, and that’s why we had two different surfaces [in the seating area],” she says.
The left side is laid with paving, while the right features ipe hardwood decking; the curve between them draws the eye down the space.
Kate opted for porcelain paving rather than stone. “Because it’s factory-made, you get a finer finish. Laying it, there’s far less variation, so it’s easier to manage,” she says.
The seating area – the garden’s first “room” – is sited on the right as you look from the house. “It gets the most sun,” Kate says.
Find a landscape architect or garden designer in your area.
Find a landscape architect or garden designer in your area.
The second “room” of the garden is the dining area, a step up from the lounging zone. It, too, has decking underfoot. On the opposite side of this area is a barbecue (see previous photo). “I wanted it away from the house, so the smoke didn’t go inside,” Kate says.
The planting around the dining table is raised to bring it to the same level and includes purple Heuchera and Buxus sempervirens balls. “[Since this garden was completed,] we’ve stopped using Buxus,” Kate says, “as there’s been a caterpillar insurgence that’s obliterated it across London and the home counties.”
Kate used a pale grey render for the raised beds to create a fresh finish. “I didn’t want to make the garden narrower with something too dark,” she says.
The planting around the dining table is raised to bring it to the same level and includes purple Heuchera and Buxus sempervirens balls. “[Since this garden was completed,] we’ve stopped using Buxus,” Kate says, “as there’s been a caterpillar insurgence that’s obliterated it across London and the home counties.”
Kate used a pale grey render for the raised beds to create a fresh finish. “I didn’t want to make the garden narrower with something too dark,” she says.
Horizontal fencing was put up in the parts of the garden nearest to the house. “It was used to keep light coming into the garden and to next door. There are three different sizes of trellis and it opens up towards the top,” Kate says.
Flowering Heuchera was planted alongside the steps to the next level of the garden.
“The colour story of the garden is pinky, orangey and pale blue, so this was the darker end of the pinky area,” Kate says of the beds near the dining zone. One of the homeowners is a fan of blues. “We put in the pinkiness to slightly lift it,” Kate explains.
The blue flowers weren’t out when the garden was photographed.
The blue flowers weren’t out when the garden was photographed.
Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ was planted on this shadier side of the garden and adds height. A curved bed of deciduous grass,
Stipa tenuissima, extends alongside it.
Stipa tenuissima, extends alongside it.
Looking back towards the house, you can see the sweep of Caledonian pebbles bordered by grasses. They bring a textural contrast.
The grey planters on the right-hand fence, in the seating area, contain Trachelospermum jasminoides – star jasmine. “You get evergreen cover and, if it’s in the sun or a little bit in sun, it will flower. It has the most amazing flowers that are highly scented,” Kate says. “It’s happy to grow flat along the wall and I needed it to be like a wall hanging and not grow out into the space.”
The grey planters on the right-hand fence, in the seating area, contain Trachelospermum jasminoides – star jasmine. “You get evergreen cover and, if it’s in the sun or a little bit in sun, it will flower. It has the most amazing flowers that are highly scented,” Kate says. “It’s happy to grow flat along the wall and I needed it to be like a wall hanging and not grow out into the space.”
The lawn, which curves elegantly against the pebbles, forms the third “room” of the garden.
Seen on the right of this photo are Photinia × fraseri ‘Red Robin’ lollypop trees. They’re evergreen and bring spring colour, and they can tolerate the shady side of the garden.
For the other side, Kate chose Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’, with pleached standard Magnolia grandiflora trees to produce a narrow screen. “‘Annabelle’ are very vivacious and billowy and I wanted that at the base of the trees,” Kate says. “Magnolia is probably my favourite tree in the world. It’s evergreen with a shiny, glossy leaf and the most beautiful flowers the size of a hand.”
Seen on the right of this photo are Photinia × fraseri ‘Red Robin’ lollypop trees. They’re evergreen and bring spring colour, and they can tolerate the shady side of the garden.
For the other side, Kate chose Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’, with pleached standard Magnolia grandiflora trees to produce a narrow screen. “‘Annabelle’ are very vivacious and billowy and I wanted that at the base of the trees,” Kate says. “Magnolia is probably my favourite tree in the world. It’s evergreen with a shiny, glossy leaf and the most beautiful flowers the size of a hand.”
The gym is the garden’s fourth “room”, and in front is another pebbled area with loungers that allow the homeowners to enjoy the morning sun that reaches this area of the garden.
“The pebbles frame the lawn and change the texture [to mark the] entrance to another space,” Kate says. Here, she used standard Magnolia grandiflora in a teardrop shape that the homeowners can walk under to reach the gym. Their height is designed as a pull towards the end of the garden.
The bed includes Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ at the back, and Phormium ‘Sundowner’, with its sword-shaped leaves, at the front.
Tell us…
Which ideas from this modern garden would you take for your own outdoor space? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
“The pebbles frame the lawn and change the texture [to mark the] entrance to another space,” Kate says. Here, she used standard Magnolia grandiflora in a teardrop shape that the homeowners can walk under to reach the gym. Their height is designed as a pull towards the end of the garden.
The bed includes Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ at the back, and Phormium ‘Sundowner’, with its sword-shaped leaves, at the front.
Tell us…
Which ideas from this modern garden would you take for your own outdoor space? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
Who lives here? A couple, who have their own business, and their teenage daughter
Property A semi-detached Victorian house
Location South-east London
Garden dimensions 6.25m x 38m
Designer Kate Eyre of Kate Eyre Garden Design
Photos by Paul Debois
Gardens this shape often give everything away at one glance, but this one didn’t have that problem when the owners moved in. “The house had been derelict for maybe two years,” Kate says. As for the garden: “There was Buddleja growing everywhere, and you couldn’t see past 10 metres.”
The owners had made the opposite move to many people, giving up a house in the country for the buzz of London, and opting to buy a home in need of renovation to make their money go further.