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Garden design with grasses, Hertfordshire

Brief

This 1960’s inspired building is undergoing a contemporary make over.  Our brief was to absorb the striking architecture into the rolling Hertfordshire hills that surround this overlooked property, providing space to wine and dine and get lost in.

Our approach

A beautiful garden design allowing for strict planning constraints, imposed due to the  extensive refurbishment and extension of the property.  There was limited opportunity for hard landscaping, therefore dynamism was achieved by a creative, low-impacting, layout.

The initial survey revealed a sloping site with no real identity –  open lawn surrounded by a random collection of trees and shrubs planted during the past 60 years.   So our aim was to give this space an inspiring yet appropriate identity.

Our design concept was based upon the actual contour lines of the surrounding landscape.   Given that contours define a landscape, we studied the lines of the shallow syncline (aka the London basin) in which the house sits.  We then combined these with the garden’s own contours, finally adding a planting scheme inspired by the historical meaning of the town’s name  –  a meadow in a clearing.  The result was a bold design truly reflective of the environment in which the house sits.

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