Arts and Crafts Garden, Chilterns

The ‘hide and seek’ concept for this garden takes its cue from the beautiful Arts and Crafts house, itself full of surprises. The garden embodies a sense of discovery, revealing new vistas, viewpoints and moments of delight at every turn.

A relaxed, family garden carefully combines expansive open spaces that reflect the scale of the house, with more enclosed spaces. The basic layout has been simplified, with rationalised levels allowing for terraces which open up new possibilities for play, socialising and relaxation. Pleached hedging provides definition and helps create a sense of privacy.

Formal planting nearer the house gradually transitions to become more naturalistic towards the boundary and form an association with the borrowed landscape of the forest beyond.

Materials reference the local geology with fossil-rich limestone terraces and free-standing dry-stone walls. The brick for the retaining walls was sourced from a local manufacturer to match the house, and creasing tiles used for the step risers reference a typical Arts and Crafts detail.