When designer Matt Keightley and his wife Kate moved into their 1930s house in London three years ago, t the narrow garden offered exactly what they were looking for. With a large lawn and a few plants held hostage in tiny beds next to the boundaries, it provided the blank canvas Matt needed to create his dream family garden. "I had a vision of a tree-lined glade that would give my girls space to explore, with room for a kitchen and seating area where Kate and I could relax and entertain."
The first step was to build an extension on to the back of the house. "We designed it so that as you walk into the kitchen, all the attention is focused on the garden, drawing you to venture outside or, on a cold winter's day, enjoy it from indoors," says Matt.
Having mapped out the design in his head, rather than drawing a formal plan, Matt and his brother simply marked it up in situ with landscape paint. "I created a journey through the garden, with trees and plants blurring the boundaries and a series of stepping stones and terraces that shift the focus from one side to the other, rather than revealing everything at once.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 2023-Ausgabe von Gardens Illustrated.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 2023-Ausgabe von Gardens Illustrated.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
ON ANOTHER LEVEL
With a brief to create a terraced garden in the Ibizan countryside, designer Juan Masedo has balanced the ancient and the modern in a remarkably subtle scheme
A cure for all ills?
In his final column, Dr Richard Claxton looks at how spending time in gardens and green spaces can actually help prevent illness and aid in its treatment
NATURE'S PLAYGROUND
Dutch garden and landscape designer Arjan Boekel has transformed his tiny town garden in the Netherlands into a miniature woodland glade
Past perfect
Every generation that has lived at Doddington Place in Kent has played a part in the evolution of the garden, resulting in a graceful and historical mix of then and now
Seasonal shift
In the first of a new container-planting series, James Horner, garden maker at Benton End, the one-time home of the artist and plantsman Cedric Morris, suggests three arrangements to celebrate spring
'Don't think everything has to be perfect'
Garden designer and TV presenter Adam Frost on the year that changed his attitude to life, the book that came out of it and what he's up to next
FRONT GARDEN IDEAS
Designer Charlotte Harris offers inspiration and advice on making the most of the small awkward space outside your front door
CHRIS THOROGOOD
The deputy director and head of science at Oxford Botanic Garden on his early obsession with squirting cucumbers, his detailed botanic art and clambering over cliff edges
Private passion
For more than 50 years, Maurice Foster has been amassing a collection of woody plants in his garden at White House Farm, which has grown into a precious horticultural resource
HOME STYLE
Maddie Bailey of Forest London shares advice on the best houseplants to grow in awkward areas
