This garden had largely been left to its own devices for decades. So our first task was to remove self-seeded trees many with quite sizeable rootballs. We then had to kill back huge areas of 6' tall nettles and remould the area using a 3 ton excavator.
The design I created sought to reinvigarote and extend the decked seating/viewing platform and create natural planting and landscaping solutions that would be easy to maintain. A copse of multistem birch has been installed in the sunniest part of the garden to create shade that suppresses weeds. The trees, whose stems will become whiter with age, have been underplanted with 4000 snowdrop, Chionodoxa and Scilla bulbs that offer an extended flowering season. A path edged with logs and barked meanders through the woodland.
To provide access to the upper area we brought in a speacilist craftsman to make a cleft chestnut post and rail fence as a handrail up the steeper slope - at the top of a series of log steps a small cedar deck was created beneath a pine tree to offer a stunning viewing point up the river Stour. EIther side of the steps wildflower turf was installed to offer a natural groundcover that suppresses weeds whilst offering a long flowering season and low mainenance.
On the upper levels of the garden gabion wire baskets were used to retain slopes and to hold back soil where we cut into the slope to expand the deck area. The baskets were carefully faced with hand laid Purbeck stone, to create a dry stone wall effect, and backfilled with Purbeck rubble stone. Above the connecting path we created a large area of naturalistic plantign with perennials and grasses, providing a visual connection from the house with the far-reaching views. The path leads to a new cedar deck, with oak framing and handrails, that is big enough to entertain on a large scale.