Contemporary Garden Design in Wiltshire
Location: Willowfield, Wiltshire
Type: Residential Garden Design
Scope: Concept Design
Status: In development
A contemporary family garden for a house undergoing substantial extension and renovation in rural Wiltshire. A strong architectural framework, naturalistic planting and carefully considered changes in level create a series of connected outdoor spaces for entertaining, relaxation and family life.
Project Brief
The brief was to create a contemporary garden that complemented the architecture of a house undergoing major renovation, designed by Chalk Architects, including the addition of a deep zinc canopy wrapping the southern and western elevations.
The garden needed to provide distinct spaces for everyday family life and entertaining.
The design was required to accommodate an outdoor dining and kitchen area, a private seating area, an outdoor living space to replace the existing summer house, generous planting, an open lawn for children, and a focal point viewed from the new extension.
Design Approach
A cast concrete terrace wraps around the house, connecting the principal living spaces and creating generous areas for dining, seating and relaxation. Perennial planting beds hug the terrace, softening the hard landscaping and bringing richly textured planting close to the house.
The design establishes a clear architectural framework, organising the garden into a sequence of connected spaces, each with its own character while remaining visually linked.
The formal upper garden is organised around nine hornbeam parasol trees, creating a focal point when viewed from the house. Chosen for their distinctive form and foliage, with the foliage often retained through winter, the hornbeams create a walkway through the formal garden and an informal shaded seating area over a hoggin terrace for summer use.
Three benches are positioned throughout the formal garden, providing places to sit and appreciate long views across the site.
Broad grass steps negotiate the changes in level between the formal garden and the lower meadow garden. The turf steps are defined by concrete risers, in keeping with the cast concrete terrace surrounding the house. The terrace extends into zig-zagging forms connecting the southern side of the house to the western dining area. Planting pockets are created between the zig-zags for low-growing herbs, making them easily accessible from the dining and outdoor kitchen area while also helping to soften the edges of the concrete.
Large concrete stepping stones cross the garden, linking the house to the southern boundary and the new outdoor living area beneath canvas awnings. This space occupies the site of a former summer house and catches the last of the evening sun.
The lawn provides an open family space and acts as a transition between the formal garden and the wooded valley and meadow beyond.
The entrance to the garden is from the driveway via hoggin steps, retained with Corten steel. Steel raised planters introduce a stronger architectural edge while accommodating additional parking and electric vehicle charging points.
Planting Design
The planting adopts a contemporary naturalistic approach, with evergreen shrubs providing year-round structure, complemented by richly textured perennials and ornamental grasses. The planting palette has been selected to thrive in the site's chalk and clay soils.
Drifts of Stipa tenuissima, Stipa gigantea and Verbena bonariensis introduce movement and transparency throughout the borders, while Geranium 'Rozanne', Alchemilla mollis, Erigeron karvinskianus and the white-flowered Lavandula angustifolia 'Arctic Snow' provide a long season of colour and soften the architectural edges of the concrete terraces.
Sculptural plants including Agapanthus, Perovskia 'Silvery Blue', Oenothera lindheimeri and Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii reinforce the contemporary character of the garden through contrasting form, texture and foliage.
Structural interest is provided by multi-stem trees, including Amelanchier lamarckii and Malus 'Evereste', chosen for their seasonal interest, while the hornbeam parasol trees define the formal upper garden with autumn foliage and strong winter structure.
