Make room for roses

Find inspiration in Stina Hasan's romantic rose-filled garden in the heart of East London

When Stina Hasan moved to her East London home over 10 years ago, she dreamt of filling the garden with roses set within a formal structure. Now she has finally worked her way from the front to the back of this 25m x 5m plot, adding planting beds, themed zones and a greenhouse, as well as clearing out plenty of waste along the way. The garden is surrounded by large, mature trees, which create a green backdrop that makes you forget you are in the middle of the city. Stina, who is a fashion designer, enjoys the garden with her husband Simon and 10-year-old son Monty. She also shares her gardening journey on @thehackneygardener.

What was the garden like when you moved here? 

Everything was kind of closing in on you - it was so dense with stuff that you couldn't really see what there was. You could tell it had been designed at some point, but not to my taste. It's 25m long, and it had that classic layout with two long beds either side and a corridor in the middle where you just walk up and down. At the back of the garden the previous owners had moved the fence forward so the last 10m was a no man's land, which had been filled up to shoulder height with rubbish. Excavating that was an absolute nightmare - we found things like power tools and paint tins that still had paint inside!

Did you have any prior gardening experience before you took on this garden?