A Beautiful Walled English Garden Patio
The majestic frontier walls of this garden are a part of the timeless appearance and harmony of space, but they had been totally overshadowed for many years by rampant greenery. The pair that has owned the garden have been living in this location for 25 years and love plants but have kept them busy over the years.
When they called designer Joanne Bernstein to help them attach their new outdoor additions, she took drastic steps to display the beauty of the region. “I’ve almost cleared everything, letting it turn again into a walled garden,” she said.
The owners of this former home designed an extension to house an office and library next to the garage in the ground floor.. It meant losing half the current terrace as well as not understanding how to harmoniously connect both elements to the garden. They were seeking clinical assistance.
It was the task of Bernstein to create a visual tie that unites the two sides and provides the garden with access from three stages, the garage, the library and on the flat top of the library, the second-floor balcony.
The couple also asked her to have a lawn where they could play their grandchildren and a number of sitting areas with different views.
Not sure whether our neighbours’ ivy is of common or posh variety 🙂 but it is lush, very slow-growing and we love it. We also have a few ivy towards the bottom of the garden. I love using ivy in hallway flower arrangements. That wall is gorgeous. The opposite wall is bare and boring, both us and our new neighbours planted Star jasmine, clematis, and I introduced the tiered planting so hopefully that side will get beautiful soon. Oh, and robins and other small birds love nesting in the ivy, too.
A gorgeous garden and beautifully linked to the new extension. Well done Joanne. The limited colour palette works so well and the separate “rooms” make the most of the space. There is something magical about a walled garden and if you have one, you need to show it off.
A gorgeous garden. In London, gardens are shaded and you rarely have a view, so I think a walled garden full of trees plants is the next best thing. Common ivy is the enemy, especially when it comes over from next door 😉
One of the best English gardens I ever seen. Taking the terrace out from the house then having a retaining wall is great, but the two sets of steps makes it even better, as does the lushness of the planting and the dividing of the space into “rooms”. It’s a delight.
This shows what a talented design professional can do. The new yard is just stunning!
Re: the ivy comments, it is a dreaded invasive exotic on the other side of the pond. Crowds out other plants and strangles trees and shrubs. It crawls under our fence from all sides and I’ll be ripping it out for as long as we live here.
Read a fascinating article about ivy in the RHS mag some time ago now. One of the best things you can have in a garden to support a large range of wildlife. Great for birds, insects/bees for shelter/food. Interestingly, it apparently doesn’t do any damage to buildings either, but will grow into cracks if you have missing mortar etc. It’s also a great insulator, keeping buildings cool in summer and warm in winter. We had just cut down /removed some very old /established ivy from the front of our 1930s house thinking it was potentially doing damage, but we were surprised to find no damage at all and let it grow back up after reading that. We try to keep it at a reasonable height though so we can trim it back every year or two as it will grow under tiles etc.
This is an extraordinary transformation, testament to the vision and talent of the garden designer.
What a treat for the owners’ grandchildren who now have a whole new ‘secret space’ to let their imagination and energy run free and for their parents and grandparents to enjoy whilst watching those memories being created.
Just stunning.