'It's our own TROPICAL OASIS

Faced with a drab garden, Emily decided to fill it with exotic plants, vibrant colour and a flexible outdoor living area

- AMY CUTMORE

ABOUT ME I'm Emily Crowley-Wroe, a garden designer (april-house.co.uk), and I live here with my husband Shaun and daughters Eve, 12, and Eleanor, eight, in a 1880s five-bedroom, semi-detached, listed house in Bourton-on-the-Water in the Cotswolds.

THE CHALLENGE Our L-shaped rear garden had broken fence panels and was pretty empty and devoid of atmosphere.

MY WISH LIST We wanted a garden full of exotic plants, along with an area where we could place furniture or exercise.

When we moved house in 2017, we realised the rear garden had been glossed over in the particulars,’ says Emily. ‘It had broken fence panels, depressing flagstones and some sad-looking pots. It needed to be given a new lease of life and some personality added to it. Luckily, I began studying garden design in 2018, so the timing was right to use our own garden as a case study for the course.

Perfect vision

I knew I wanted an outside room that felt spacious and connected to the modern rear of our house, with lots of exotic plants that would transport us somewhere far away and dreamy… a complete contrast to the cottage garden at the front. I started developing my wish list, which included having an area where we could eat, several spaces to sit and pockets of planting that would be roomy enough for some big feature plants to add atmosphere to the garden.

Next steps