Yard of the Week: Privacy, Seating and Lush Plantings
This elegant landscape was once a series of unconnected zones. Now it has a focal point and space for entertaining
There were many design challenges to overcome to create this lush, inviting and secluded urban yard — chiefly, its shape; the yard forms a perimeter around almost the entire detached house. “The plot comprised a number of unconnected zones: a narrow front garden path; a main lawn, which struggled in a semishady triangular space; and another narrow, shady space leading to a dark and [small] back garden area,” designer Charlotte Rowe says.
The plan was to create two main spaces — a dining area off the kitchen at the back of the house and a secluded seating area in the largest section of yard, the above-mentioned triangular space at the front of the house. As every part of the yard, not just these two sections, is overlooked by various windows on the ground floor, the pathways between these areas had to be equally lovely to look at.
The plan was to create two main spaces — a dining area off the kitchen at the back of the house and a secluded seating area in the largest section of yard, the above-mentioned triangular space at the front of the house. As every part of the yard, not just these two sections, is overlooked by various windows on the ground floor, the pathways between these areas had to be equally lovely to look at.
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After: Here is the same area after the redesign, in a photo taken looking back on the house. This is the largest part of the unusually shaped yard, and it is situated to the left of the house, at the front. “We instilled symmetry in this part of the garden by putting a square area inside the triangle for socializing and sitting in,” Rowe says. “The rest of the triangle is planting. It gives you privacy and a sense of order.”
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The seating area is shown here with lighting on, highlighting the trees.
This view of the space shows the wall seen in the first picture. Rowe and the owners decided against a lawn, as there isn’t enough light, a condition that an existing mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin) contributes to. Instead, Rowe suggested a mix of gravel and paving.
Pale gray Spanish limestone paving and limestone gravel help to lighten the area, while planted channels and yew hedging break up the space and add to the sense of order.
To boost privacy here, Rowe also planted multistem trees, including Persian ironwood (Parrotia persica) and serviceberry (Amelanchier lamarckii), along the boundaries. A narrow strip of outdoor space continues out the other side of this area up the side of the house and leads to a utility area Rowe created, where there’s space for trash containers.
Pale gray Spanish limestone paving and limestone gravel help to lighten the area, while planted channels and yew hedging break up the space and add to the sense of order.
To boost privacy here, Rowe also planted multistem trees, including Persian ironwood (Parrotia persica) and serviceberry (Amelanchier lamarckii), along the boundaries. A narrow strip of outdoor space continues out the other side of this area up the side of the house and leads to a utility area Rowe created, where there’s space for trash containers.
Here we see a close-up view of one of the planted channels surrounded by gravel.
This is Rowe’s plan for the landscape. The main seating area seen in previous photos is the large triangular area at the bottom left. The front door sits in the bottom middle on the drawing. The dark green squares in rows are the hedges. The square toward the top right of the drawing, below the garage, is a paved dining area.
Narrow Front-Yard Strip
This is the long, narrow strip of yard that runs in front of the house. The arch in the bay hedge at the far end of the path leads to the main part of the yard containing the seating, pictured earlier. The front door to the house is beneath the little tiled roof. “This is the sunny part of the garden and also the front entrance, so the first thing you see when you arrive. It needed to be richly planted,” Rowe says.
Plants in this section include lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis), stonecrop (Sedum ‘Matrona’), New Zealand iris (Libertia grandiflora) and hebe (Hebe parviflora var. angustifolia).
This is the long, narrow strip of yard that runs in front of the house. The arch in the bay hedge at the far end of the path leads to the main part of the yard containing the seating, pictured earlier. The front door to the house is beneath the little tiled roof. “This is the sunny part of the garden and also the front entrance, so the first thing you see when you arrive. It needed to be richly planted,” Rowe says.
Plants in this section include lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis), stonecrop (Sedum ‘Matrona’), New Zealand iris (Libertia grandiflora) and hebe (Hebe parviflora var. angustifolia).
This view shows the same part of the yard looking the other way.
This is the section of the design immediately beyond the hedging arch. To the right is the sitting area.
This shows the view looking back through the bay arch. Panicled hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’) bloom on the right.
Narrow Backyard Strip
Another narrow stretch of the yard runs up the other side of the house. Two oversize decorative urns on the left replaced a water feature and provide a focal point, as the drawing room window overlooks them.
As it’s dark in this spot, shade-loving plants, including hebe (Hebe parviflora var. angustifolia) and alpine wood fern (Dryopteris wallichiana), were planted here. Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra) spills from the beds across the path, softening the line.
At the end of this strip, just behind where the picture was taken from and also accessible from the back of the house, is a paved dining area.
Another narrow stretch of the yard runs up the other side of the house. Two oversize decorative urns on the left replaced a water feature and provide a focal point, as the drawing room window overlooks them.
As it’s dark in this spot, shade-loving plants, including hebe (Hebe parviflora var. angustifolia) and alpine wood fern (Dryopteris wallichiana), were planted here. Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra) spills from the beds across the path, softening the line.
At the end of this strip, just behind where the picture was taken from and also accessible from the back of the house, is a paved dining area.
This is the view to the left as you come out the home’s front door. The passageways between the main parts of the yard are punctuated by a series of limestone strips and channels planted with sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum).
Dining Area
Before: This is the dining area as it looked before Rowe’s redesign.
Before: This is the dining area as it looked before Rowe’s redesign.
After: Here you get a glimpse of the new dining area. Situated at the back of the house, between the kitchen and garage, this had previously been a shady, underused space. “It was dark and gloomy. [The owners] thought they’d never use it, but now they do,” Rowe says.
To lighten it, she substantially pruned back a large southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora). The pale paving also helps to lighten up the area, as does more organized plantings.
The plants here include hebe (Hebe parviflora var. angustifolia), soft shield fern (Polystichum setiferum ‘Pulcherrimum Bevis’) and clematis and jasmine climbing up the walls.
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To lighten it, she substantially pruned back a large southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora). The pale paving also helps to lighten up the area, as does more organized plantings.
The plants here include hebe (Hebe parviflora var. angustifolia), soft shield fern (Polystichum setiferum ‘Pulcherrimum Bevis’) and clematis and jasmine climbing up the walls.
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Here is the dining area as seen from above. The door on the left leads into the garage.
Right next to the front door (the brickwork of which is visible on the right), Rowe added a large, low herb container.
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Who lives here: A couple
Location: Chiswick, West London
Size: Just over 3,229 square feet (300 square meters). The yard runs around the house and includes a long, thin garden along the front, a small terrace at the back, a winding path and a triangular section.
Designer: Charlotte Rowe
Secluded Seating Area
Before: This photo looking out from the house shows the main triangular area of the yard before the redesign. Rowe turned it into an elegant seating area.