Instant gratification
Country Life UK|July 27, 2022
Tiffany Daneff visits a recently built property in the Home Counties, which proves that, with forethought, a new garden needn't look new
Tiffany Daneff
Instant gratification

HOW do you make an imposing new house sit easily in its setting, not to mention look comfortable in the H landscape? This was the key question for the designer Libby Russell, when she and Emma Mazzullo of Mazullo + Russell took on this project in the Home Counties in 2017.

Builders were still working on the house itself, so the team initially focused on the boundaries. The plot is shaped like a slightly squashed bell, with neighbouring gardens on either side and a long border with the road at its base. The view, which is considerable, extends beyond the crown of the bell as the garden opens out into the landscape.

The previous house had been knocked down to make way for the new one, but many trees and shrubs from its garden remained mature Scots pines, beeches, horse chestnuts and oaks, although a handsome red oak proved to be diseased and had to be cut down. The many rhododendrons that thrive on the acidic soil include the almost-too-successful, mauveflowering Victorian import R. ponticum, as well as several red varieties. This was all good news as, 'the client wanted trees, the whammy of the rhododendrons and colour'. Privacy was also important.

The existing trees and shrubs were mostly gathered around the boundaries and, with a bit of shaping, many have been successfully integrated into a new woodland walk around the perimeter of the garden.

Screening the house from the road needed to be effective, but subtle. 'We didn't want the hedge on the boundary with the road to feel too claustrophobic, so we did tiers of yew and hornbeam, which are kept tightly clipped,' says Mrs Russell. This works very well, with the fresh greenery of the hornbeam lightening the Styx-dark yew, and the double thickness muffles the noise of passing cars. On the other side, yew cubes, small trees and roses nicely break up the long evergreen hedge.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 27, 2022 من Country Life UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 27, 2022 من Country Life UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من COUNTRY LIFE UK مشاهدة الكل
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
Country Life UK

Kitchen garden cook - Apples

'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024
The original Mr Rochester
Country Life UK

The original Mr Rochester

Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre

time-read
5 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Get it write
Country Life UK

Get it write

Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution

time-read
6 mins  |
October 23, 2024
'Sloes hath ben my food'
Country Life UK

'Sloes hath ben my food'

A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright

time-read
3 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Souvenirs of greatness
Country Life UK

Souvenirs of greatness

FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.

time-read
3 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Plants for plants' sake
Country Life UK

Plants for plants' sake

The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson

time-read
7 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Capturing the castle
Country Life UK

Capturing the castle

Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker

time-read
6 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Nature's own cathedral
Country Life UK

Nature's own cathedral

Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods

time-read
5 mins  |
October 23, 2024
All that money could buy
Country Life UK

All that money could buy

A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages

time-read
8 mins  |
October 23, 2024
In with the old
Country Life UK

In with the old

Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery

time-read
5 mins  |
October 23, 2024