The garden was completed in December 2025 and we are waiting for spring and summer 2026 to take our final pictures.
This garden was once a very simple garden. It had a large perfect lawn that had striped mowed into it. A large white porcelain patio and a far reaching view over rolling hills. This new build garden belonged to two clients belonged to two elderly but, youthful at heart and nature, clients who were brilliant fun. When we first met them the photos of garden inspiration they showed us were of gardens with obvious Japanese styling. The pair have spent a lot of time visiting Japan and they have lots of friends there – so designing and building a Japanese inspired garden it was then.
The garden was completed in December 2025 and we are waiting for spring and summer 2026 to take our final pictures.
We think it is important when undertaking a garden project like this for the styling to not to be kitsch. So, we thought of the key things we love out of Japanese gardens we have enjoyed – there was the magnificent Cha No Niwa’s Tea Garden on Main Avenue at Chelsea that summer. Scott and I both love the use of boulders and gravel and architectural planting. So, these were the key features we would bring in the garden – planting wise we used large topiary balls and large multi-stemmed trees.
The garden was completed in December 2025 and we are waiting for spring and summer 2026 to take our final pictures.
To contrast with the planting, and to match the architecture of the house, we opted for a large format paving choice. We laid Schellevis 800 x 800 slabs for the main patio area. These were laid on a screed bed, which is something we are interested in doing in future porjects because it enables the water to run through rather than run off. The clients chose to for the darker anthracite colour and we think they look great.
Next up was the transformation of a wooden bar clients had made when they first moved in. The bar and associated decking looked out of place and tired in the garden. We gave it a revamp. Originally we were planning to only clad it in vertical shadow gap cladding and paint it matt black, but we all agreed that it was missing some detailing. So the client suggested an aesthetic based on traditional tea houses that are made out of wood with the paper shutters.
Our carpenter had his work cut out to create this type of facade, and keep the opening bar mechanism. He had clarefully make all the different components so they all lined up with the doors were closed. Not an easy feat. If they were only slightly off, the whole new design would run the risk of looking tacky. It needed to be well made and intentional.
The garden was completed in December 2025 and we are waiting for spring and summer 2026 to take our final pictures.
The other striking design feature this garden has is the red decking. It took a while to settle on the type of red that we would use. We were seeking a type of antique red that the client had on some of his Japanese tea cups. It was a bold move to paint the decking red but it turned out to be one of our favourite features of the whole garden.
We can’t wait to return to this garden later on in the spring and summer of 2026 to take or professional photos of the beautiful space and add them to a gallery on here.