“I love this garden,” says Charlotte Harris of design duo Harris Bugg, who, between Charlotte in London and Hugo Bugg in Exeter, take on a dizzying variety of projects, of every size and description. Not to mention their upcoming Main Avenue show garden for this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Tucked away behind a north London terrace, this is one of the pair’s smaller gardens, a microcosm of their focus on texture and shape, with imaginative hard landscaping.

“Looseness is a word that was used a lot during the planning,” Charlotte recalls as she describes the client’s brief. “He wanted something wild, like a meadow in the back garden.” It’s music to a designer’s ears, she notes, when clients with small gardens do not ask for a lawn. Instead, the garden has ‘moments’ during the day, in response to the sun’s progress; an antique table towards the back is uncluttered by chairs, and provides a focus, if not a destination, for the winding path of stepping stones that begin at the garden’s second level.

The Planting

The combined canopies of a pair of Japanese pagoda trees (Styphnolobium japonicum) create a sense of privacy outside the garden room of the house, throwing a bit of shade over the front of this refined urban meadow. Fresh-green rugs of Hakonechloa macra cheerfully flop over edges, and are joined further in by plants that are generally more obliging than aggressive. Evergreen Anemanthele lessoniana (pheasant grass) can get too full, but is easily thinned by running one’s fingers through it, in the manner of a razor comb.

“I like the idea that things are moving around and are not too controlled in here,” says Charlotte of this year-old garden. The intention is to keep a sense of delicacy. White foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea ‘Dalmatian White’) are expected to spread around, with meadow cranesbill (Geranium ‘Brookside’) rambling through. Common valerian (Valeriana officinalis) has a reputation for rampant behaviour, but it can easily be thinned as it threads its way through this London plot.

“You want certain things to be thuggish, so that they can withhold a kicking next to paths,” says Charlotte. To this end, she and Hugo have used Alchemilla erythropoda, which is “really pretty” but tough like Alchemilla mollis. Dense, carpeting Soleirolia soleirolii (mind-your-own-business) has also been used in shade: “It’s such a hooligan but felt right here, with the stepping stones.”

Leftover York stone slabs have been used at the back, fitted together by contractor Mark Whyman, in a way that is more crazy-paving than modular, thus aiding the flow of planting. At the front, a sourced boulder reaches towards limestone-paving smoothness. This sense of warm elegance extends to the woven oak trellis: “In this tiny slice of meadow, we wanted something that was softer than slatted trellising,” says Charlotte. The result is a contemporary nod to woven hazel.

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Reports from the owner suggest that this garden is constantly visited by local wildlife, with squirrels competing for wild strawberries. It is chemical-free, and the hostas show no sign of snail damage. “This is entirely because there is a lot of bird life in here,” says Charlotte. “It’s a very happy little garden.”

Garden foraging

Part of the client’s brief for Harris Bugg Studio was that he wanted his urban meadow to have an edible element. Edgings of wild strawberries and prostrate rosemary provide texture and an effective groundcover as well as being harvestable. Herbs, in sunny areas and in pots, include thyme, fennel, lemon verbena, upright rosemary and loose shrubs of bay.

Other good-value plants include Sichuan pepper (Zanthoxylum simulans): “It has a really nice filigree quality, then you get the pepper at the end of the season,” says Charlotte. A broad-leaved sausage vine (Holboellia latifolia) has enthusiastically covered the back wall, producing strange- looking but palatable fruit in autumn.

Find out more about Charlotte and Hugo’s work at harrisbugg.com.

Professor James Hitchmough is a hard man to get hold of. Apologetic emails from South Africa, China, the Orkney Islands or Kyrgyzstan explained he was photographing plants in high-altitude meadows. When I finally meet him, Stan his dog upstages him, scattering pots of exotic cuttings before barging into the borders after a cat. None of this fazes the professor. “My tolerance for disorder,” he explains, “is very high.”

Disorder is a word he uses often. As Professor of Horticultural Ecology in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Sheffield University, he’s spent 20 years probing how much ‘naturalism’ (for this read ‘chaos’) people can tolerate. Scrutinising his environment is second-nature to him. He grew up in a pit village in Northumberland surrounded by spoil heaps. “I asked myself, why is this place so bloody awful and what would make it better?” It’s a question he’s spent a lifetime answering.

His own back garden behind his terraced house on one of Sheffield’s vertiginous hills is his outdoor laboratory. It was derelict when he bought it, meaning waist-high weeds needed to be cleared and remaining trees pruned to open up the shade canopy, and leave the remaining two-thirds open. The stylised meadow he has created unfolds from late winter onwards when bulbs and a low understory of woodland plants, such as primulas and ranunculus, reduces the area of bare soil that weeds would otherwise swiftly colonise, with taller summer plants emerging as the spring layer dies back. “Here I can examine how plants perform and use volumes of space as they grow, and from a design point of view it’s vital to be able to conceptualise this,” he says.

The plants in James Hitchmough’s small city garden are like stamps in his passport, numerous and exotic. For the past decade, however, South African species, such as the Kniphofia ‘Jane Henry’ and Gladiolus ‘Ruby’ seen above, have been his abiding interest. Most South African species familiar to gardeners, come from eastern summer rainfall areas, but James has been researching plants from western winter rainfall areas, such as the Hex River and the Komsberg, which are far less common. “It gets down to minus eight, so many of these species, such as Bulbinella latifolia and Watsonia marlothii, grow really well in the UK,” he says.

Summer plants, such as Echinacea pallida and Kniphofia albomontana, are selected mostly to have leafless stems so the borders have a certain wildness rather than a neat en bloc structure. Here they combine with  Eryngium bourgatii ‘Picos Blue’, Echinops ritro, Echinacea purpurea ‘Prairie Splendor’, Agapanthus campanulatus subsp. patens, Kniphofia ‘Jane Henry’, Crocosmia masoniorum and Hemerocallis ‘Lemon Bells’, combine to bring a ‘supercharged nature’ aspect to his richly planted borders. “Initially there wasn’t a warm reception to the idea of naturalistic vegetation,” says James, “but now it’s become much more normalised, and things like the Olympic Park [where James and his Sheffield University colleague Professor Nigel Dunnett acted as planting design consultants] played a major part in that. It’s having your cake and eating it, but what’s wrong with that?”

Five lessons for a city space

• Don’t discount exotic species. Many South African plants are very happy in urban Sheffield.
• A good ground layer of plants, out of which other, taller things can emerge, will keep the garden looking good in the early months, so plant large numbers of shade-tolerant understorey plants, such as primulas and ranunculus.
• Trying to have flowers from January to November means that you have to open the vegetation up more than if you just want a garden from April to September. It’s more work, but you’re rewarded with greater visual interest.
• Dogs and gardens can be tricky. This is the first garden James has had with a dog – one that occasionally wants to dig a big hole.
• Don’t be in a big rush to discard plants that don’t seem to be performing. Give them another year as it makes a big difference.

James’s favourite summer plants

Hemerocallis ‘Lemon Bells’

Multi-headed, lemon-coloured, lily-like flowers with bronzed backs blooming in midsummer, which hold up well above foliage. 1.2m. RHS H6, USDA 4a-9b†.

Galtonia candicans

Berkheya purpurea

© Richard Bloom

A South African species that likes a sheltered, well-drained spot in full sun. Resembles a daisy crossed with a sunflower. 60cm. RHS H4, USDA 6a-11.

Crocosmia masoniorum

© Richard Bloom

Likes moist but well-drained soil and produces tall, arching spikes of fiery orange flowers. Good for cutting. 70cm. AGM. RHS H4, USDA 6a-9b.

Themeda triandra

© Richard Bloom

A blue-green, tufted, tussock-forming grass that turns rust red as it ages. Although it’s tough, it needs well-drained soil. 1.5m.

Tulbaghia violacea ‘Peppermint Garlic’

© Richard Bloom

Can be tender in cold areas so best overwintered in a greenhouse. Otherwise, trouble free. Flowers best if divided regularly. 50cm. USDA 7a-10b.

Echinacea paradoxa

Gladiolus ‘Ruby’

A glamorous, deep-red, funnel-shaped flower, which emerges from a corm. Needs full sun to flower reliably. 75cm. RHS H4, USDA 8a-10b.

*Holds an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.†Hardiness ratings given where available.

You can find more information on plant hardiness ratings here.

Note: We featured this garden in our magazine in 2017, James has since moved house, which we featured in Gardens Illustrated magazine. Subscribe here. 

We pulled up at a gas station with a hot dog cafe named Diggety Dog near Dolan Springs, south of Las Vegas, sipped coffee and watched a mile-long train rattle across the desert on the horizon line, distant and surreal. From the west, a purple-grey dust cloud gathered, heading across our path, and from the way waiters wiped tables and scooped cups oblivious to these visuals, we surmised this was just a regular day in Detrital Valley – and so the scene was set.

The hyper-real visuals and sheer scale of the American desert revealed itself to us each time we left a city. Mesmerising and liberating, the miles of land and road stretching out before us was dominated by colourful layers of Paleozoic rock. We would see an intermittent brittlebush (Encelia farinosa), an occasional ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens), or a cactus forest creeping up a hillside near an intense red mountain range as we travelled though the land. We slipped down through a fissure in the rock one day, to see the marvel that is Antelope Canyon, on Navajo Reservation, sculpted pink sandstone washed by rivers and time.

Playing around with the surreal in our home and garden back home in London, a 2m-high cactus is planted inside the house next to a full-height, fixed-glazed window, while outside sits a large fireplace with cooking hearth, blurring of the boundaries playing around with the norm. The cactus, Euphorbia ingens appears to be growing out of the wooden floor from a planting pit recessed into a tanked subterranean slot. As you stand inside and feel the presence of the cactus and look outside to glowing hearth in the garden, the notion of inside and outside is vaguely and pleasantly blurred.

When it came to creating our garden, I replicated the colours of the desert and those of the striped rocks of The Painted Desert in Arizona using, as my green layer, the chartreuse green of Seslaria autumnalis, coral Rosa Lady Emma Hamilton (= ‘Ausbrother’) and Anemone x hybrida ‘September Charm’.

The geometry for our courtyard garden, a corner plot in North West London was complex: 54m² of impacted clay, viewed on four sides and needing an access point on all four sides too. I sketched out the geometry many times but it was as our road trip through Arizona, Nevada, Utah and California took us in a loop, that the narrative of the garden began to take shape.

Exploring the east rim of the Grand Canyon we looked down and saw the deep silken-green ribbon of a river far below us and the idea of a pathway, like the river, linking all the entrance points, formed the basic geometry and crystallised the design in my mind. Our family’s journey echoed this small, looped stretch of the Colorado River known as Horseshoe Bend; the garden has become a metaphor for our journey and the time we spent exploring the desert.

Although I would have dearly loved the National Tree of Arizona the palo verdi tree (Parkinsonia florida) in my garden for its intense, green, April-display akin to our blossom season, I am perfectly content with my 8m-tall Betula nigra Heritage birch, with its peeling cinnamon-mauve bark, and fresh-green leaves affording us shade in the summer, and buttery-yellow autumn display – for us, its scale in some ways replicates the majesty of the desert.

Born in Yorkshire with the standard village garden of shrub roses, hedgehogs that ate our French marigolds and a lawn ruined with too much football, I was introduced to and fascinated by a magazine called Arizona Highways sent to us by my aunt Therese from Arizona, from the 1970s onwards and thus began my love affair with The Desert.

Martha Krempel is an award-winning designer based in London. She studied fine art and sculpture before going on to train at the London College of Garden Design in 2014.
marthakrempelgardendesign.com

Read more about international wildflower spectacles and Martha’s trip to the American desert

Urban gardens are becoming ever more squeezed, thanks in part to the rising popularity of rear extensions and garden studios. This means that garden owners and designers have to do more with less, as well as creating a sense of cohesion between extensions, studios and the outdoor space in between. That was just part of the challenge presented to landscape designer Alasdair Cameron by Tom and James, the owners of an attractive Victorian end-of-terrace in west London.

Tom and James had recently extended their home, to add on a new kitchen-dining room at the back. Their architects had made the popular move of choosing a floor material – large format grey porcelain tiles – that has been continued outside across the new terrace. When the extension was done, the couple asked garden room specialists Shackadelic to start work on a cedar-clad gym before turning their attention to the garden. Since both the extension and the gym overlook the garden, Tom and James’s brief was to create a stunning year-round vista from both viewpoints, as well as making the garden a calm and meditative space in which to spend time. Alasdair’s response was “to inject that wonderful element of nature, a feeling of a woodland dell, into this small, square space.”

To link the house to the gym at the rear of this small city garden, Alasdair has created a sinuous path that winds like a river through shade-loving plants that include Asarum europaeum, Eurybia schreberi, and ferns Blechnum spicant and Polystichum setiferum. The gravel, with its pools of Soleirolia soleirolii and relatively small Purbeck pitchers, add to the woodland feel of this small garden and create a contrast to the clean lines of the terrace.

A multi-stemmed Parrotia persica underplanted with Origanum majorana creates an enclosed and sheltered space for a pair of Adirondack chairs and a firepit, allowing owners Tom and James to continue to use the garden well into autumn. The vigorous climber Stauntonia coriacea will soon cover the fence behind to envelope the area in green.

Grey porcelain tiles create a sense of unity between the kitchen extension and a wide terrace, bordered to one side by a timber, tall cold frame. Beyond, three multi-stemmed Parrotia trees screen the cedar-clad gym and bring definition to the garden creating visual links with mature trees in the surrounding gardens. In the foreground, a mix of woodland planting, including the Japanese forest grass Hakonechloa macra and ferns, such as Polystichum setiferum and Dryopteris erythrosora, create a fresh natural feel punctuated by domes of yew, Taxus baccata, for year-round structure.

USEFUL INFORMATION For more information on Alasdair’s work visit camerongardens.co.uk

Key plants from the garden

Polystichum setiferum

The graceful fronds of this shade-tolerant native fern emerge upright before falling open as they unfurl, providing textural foliage to contrast with the surrounding grasses in this green-focussed planting scheme. 1.2m x 50cm. AGM. RHS H7, USDA 6a-8b.

Here are a few more ferns we love. 

Parrotia persica

A slow-growing tree, chosen for its interesting forms and autumn colour. In this garden the three trees are topped once a year to keep them at the optimal height. 8m x 8m. RHS H6, USDA 4a-8b.

Taxus baccata

Yew provides year-round interest with its dark green tone, and helps to anchor the perennial planting. Alasdair has used a trio of loose, shaggy yew domes, which work in tandem with the three Parrotia persica trees to create rhythm in this small garden. 20m x 10m. AGM. RHS H7, USDA 6a-7b.

Hakonechloa macra

© Clive Nichols

The tactile, shaggy hummocks of this arching grass bring a sense of movement to the planted areas. This Japanese forest-dwelling grass is used both as a ground cover and as a focal point in this tall Atlantis pot. 35cm x 40cm. AGM. RHS H7, USDA 5a-9b.

When designer Erik Funneman was commissioned to design a rooftop garden for an apartment home in the centre of Utrecht, he was determined that it would be neither the archetypal extra ‘room’, nor a typical roof terrace. Instead, to reflect his clients’ passion for plants, he set out to create what he describes as a ‘proper’ garden on top a sturdy concrete garage, 1.5m above the clients’ apartment.

The clients wanted to attract insects to the garden and to watch the seasons change. “It was about creating a different ambience,” Erik recalls, “and establishing a softer environment against the urban backdrop.” Then there was the small matter of the neighbouring building clad in bright blue tiles. “I didn’t particularly like the building, but it does reflect the sky and it’s become an important part of the view from the garden,” says Erik.

Erik’s inspiration was drawn from Dutch landscapes. “I like to bring nature back into the garden,” he explains. Undulations in the substrate and organically shaped planting beds contrast with the angular geometry of the concrete walls and neighbouring buildings. The garden overlooks a park, and echoes of the planting there, consisting mostly of ornamental grasses, found their way into the planting scheme.

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First, though, came the challenge of transporting a significant quantity of planting substrate on to the roof without damaging glass windows and concrete walls. The solution was to blow a mixture of lava stone and soil under high pressure through a tube and manoeuvre it into place. Gravel paths were laid on top of the substrate using the same process. The whole, nerve-racking operation was completed in just one day.

Chosen for their ability to tolerate extremes of weather, the plants have proven themselves to be extremely robust in their relatively harsh environment. “This was a surprise to me,” says Erik. “I really didn’t expect that. In fact, many of the plants in this garden grow far better than they do in other gardens I’ve designed. They function like a complete eco-system here, and it’s made me rethink how I use these plants in other gardens and whether I should use them at all.”

“Originally the design for the garden was much more complicated, with wooden decking and so forth,” adds Erik. “It became too expensive, and we had to cut the budget. But I realised that less is more, and the outcome has been far more successful than I could ever imagine.”

Deschampsia cespitosa ‘Goldschleier’ forms a misty veil in front of the cityscape beyond, while scarlet persicaria, Bistorta amplexicaulis ‘Blackfield’ makes a bright spot of colour among the golden and bronze seedheads and bare stems of neighbouring plants.

Graceful fountain grass, Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Cassian’s Choice’, with its fluffy flowerheads partners with perennials and a variety of grasses to screen the garden from neighbours, providing privacy for the rooftop outdoor seating area.

In mid-autumn the planting matures to accentuate a tapestry of textures and colours of ageing foliage and faded flowers. Carex muskingumensis ‘Oehme’, Verbena bonariensis and Agastache ‘Blackadder’ create a jungly effect for year-round interest.

Find out more about Erik Funneman’s work at erikfunneman.nl

Among the many benefits of urban living, privacy is rarely top of the list. Those lucky enough to have gardens often find themselves overlooked, with the all-too-frequent result that the space goes unused – it’s hard to relax if you feel observed. So it was at this project in Brockley, south London, where a block of flats to the rear looked directly on to the house and garden.

“The previous owners had done a ‘protest planting’ of sorts,” says George Cullis of Studio Cullis, who was commissioned to redesign the space. “Two 14m-high leylandii and an 8m bay tree did block out the flats very effectively, but they also made the garden dark, inhospitable – nothing would grow beneath the trees – and completely unusable as a family garden.” New owners Nick and Zoe agreed. “We wanted somewhere that would draw us out into the space while still providing a degree of privacy,” says Nick. A lawn and large terrace were key requirements, and there were some more unusual requests, too. “We wanted quite naturalistic, understated planting,” says Zoe. “And since we have a lot of family birthdays in spring and late summer/autumn, we decided these were the moments when we would like the garden to peak.”

Taking inspiration from both forest gardens and the small, urban gardens at the South London Gallery (designed by Fraser & Morris) and the Garden Museum (designed by Dan Pearson), George has created a garden that fulfils the brief admirably. To address the need for privacy, George has chosen deciduous trees with both beautiful blossom and late-season colour, as well as a relatively dense tracery of winter branches, as the backbone of the garden.

Different zones include a large terrace, a lawn and, close to the house, a wide, deep bed to capture the attention and draw the owners outside. The side beds, with their mix of shrubs, grasses and perennials, were inspired by a visit to RHS Garden Rosemoor in Devon.

A pair of Amelanchier x lamarckii planted close to the house work with the cherries at the rear to effectively screen out the flats beyond. Cornus kousa var. chinensis help to hide the trunks of the cherry trees and combine with Libertia chilensis and Pittosporum tobira ‘Nanum’ to create the wildlife corridor stipulated in the planning requirements, which is designed to be left largely untouched.

Wide limestone steps from the house to the terrace act as additional seating, making this a fantastic space for entertaining. The small, raised herb bed close to the house is a practical and attractive touch. Though the clients were not initially keen on grasses, they have come to love the movement they add to the garden.

The russet tones of the amelanchiers are picked up in other plants around the garden. These include the Gillenia trifoliata beneath the trees and the crimson glory vine, Vitis coignetiae, planted along one of the side walls. Plants such as Hakonechloa macra and Nepeta racemosa ‘Walker’s Low’ are allowed to spill over the gravel paths, creating a relaxed, informal feel.

The deep bed nearest the house has been designed to peak in spring and autumn, in line with the family’s birthdays. Early in the year Helleborus foetidus mixes with snowdrops (Galanthus elwesii) and crocuses, followed by narcissi, Fritillaria meleagris and tulips. Later on Eurybia divaricata, Hakonechloa macra, Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Hameln’ and Anemone hupehensis var. japonica ‘Tiki Sensation’ take over the show.

KEY PLANTS
Euphorbia mellifera

A sturdy, dome-shaped shrub that can withstand the odd stray ball. Beautiful in rain when droplets sit like mercury on the leaves, it bears honey-scented flowers in spring. 2m. AGM*. RHS H3†.

Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’

Used repeatedly throughout the garden, both for its long-lasting foliage and its pure white flowers, which light up shadier areas. A spreader, but easy to pull up. 1.25m. AGM*. RHS H7, USDA 4a-8b.

Read our guide on how to grow anemone

Bistorta amplexicaulis ‘Blackfield’

A perennial that’s as good for its foliage – neat clumps of heart-shaped leaves – as its deep-red flower spikes, which last from midsummer to mid-autumn. 75cm. AGM. RHS H7.

Read our guide on how to grow persicaria or bistorta

Hydrangea quercifolia

The oak-leaved hydrangea has beautiful, cream-coloured, conical flowers in summer and as the flowers fade in autumn, the green leaves flush red and purple. 1.25m. RHS H5, USDA 5a-9b.

USEFUL INFORMATION Find out more about George’s work at studiocullis.com

This garden featured in our October issue of Gardens Illustrated. Subscribe here

There’s long been debate in landscape design teaching about whether it’s easier to design a small space or a large garden. Larger gardens can be a challenge when trying to divide them into usable areas, considering borrowed views, or ensuring there is an element of planting consistency.

However, in smaller gardens every detail counts; material considerations can be contentious; and there’s no fudging any part of the build. It’s a debate that no doubt will carry on for years to come, but for designer Colm Joseph this city garden was just as much a challenge as any of his larger projects.

Colm’s practice is based on the Cambridgeshire-Suffolk border, and he’s been designing classy, considered yet usable spaces for the past five years. “I was in international development before I retrained as a garden designer – I wanted to do something more creative and stop travelling as much,” he explains. This garden – measuring just eight metres by six metres – is a clear statement of creativity. Engaged by the previous owners in 2020 towards the end of a substantial architectural renovation by of a Victorian villa in central Cambridge, Colm’s task was to bring cohesion to a space dominated by PiP Architecture’s bold architectural extension. In addition to a new kitchen there is a corridor that runs the full length of the garden leading to a home office, and these structures feature an array of materials from clay Petersen Kolumba bricks and Corten steel, to floor-to-ceiling glass, polished concrete and zinc. This was no ordinary space, and no ordinary smörgåsbord of materials. “I was excited about dealing with a bold material palette,” says Colm. “But I needed to bring cohesion and harmony.

Occupying the corner between the office studio and the long, green-roofed corridor that links it to the house, the bespoke table and benches create a shady and private seating area. The crab apple tree adds further screening and dappled shade.

In this small courtyard garden, buildings fill three of the four boundaries. To introduce some green into the space, Colm has covered the only boundary not defined by a building with pleached panels of beech (Fagus sylvatica), and sited a multi-stem Malus ‘Rudolph’ in the heart of the garden to connect it to the house.

The bespoke Corten steel water feature brings calm and helps to cool the garden in warmer weather. A series of Corten steel fins set within the pool link the trio of gently flowing cascades to the kitchen’s vertical louvres and echo the clay bricks used as cladding for the office studio and corridor.

By placing the main planting and water feature directly outside the kitchen extension, Colm has softened this striking, zinc-clad structure. Beyond, the elongated horizontal lines of the concrete furniture and paving harmonise with the geometry of the office studio.

Poured concrete, which has been used internally for flooring, is extended out into the garden where it is softened by creeping Pratia angulata ‘Treadwellii’. The garden table and benches are also cast in situ from poured concrete to a bespoke design by Colm.

The multi-stem Malus ‘Rudolph’ provides height and seasonal interest. Underplanted with a mix of evergreens, such as Blechnum spicant, and flowering plants that begin with a series of bulbs and continue with the likes of Geranium ‘Nimbus’ and Eurybia macrophylla ‘Twilight’, it ensures there is always something of interest to look out on.

Key techniques Colm uses to make small gardens feel more immersive and inviting

Simplify and unify the boundaries. Unless existing boundaries have inherent beauty or character, such as an old wall, I like to screen and green them. Hedging or climbing plants conceal boundaries, allowing your eye to rest within the space. Disguising boundaries also helps the garden feel larger. Stick to a pared-back, restrained palette of hard materials to create harmony. I usually keep to two, or maximum three, different hard-landscaping materials repeated throughout.

If it makes sense, consider repeating materials used in the architecture or interior. Avoid the mistake of pushing everything to the perimeters, leaving internal areas feeling empty. Whether it’s a small tree, tall planting, built or sculptural elements, introducing some mass helps partially conceal, reveal and frame views, adding a greater sense of depth to the space.

Introduce natural elements to soften hard materials, bringing these natural elements close to windows and the house-to-garden transition areas. This helps give the garden an immersive feel and integrates the interior and exterior. Pay careful attention to screening for privacy, to ensure you feel comfortable using the garden.

Find out more about Colm’s work at colmjoseph.co.uk

This was a shortened version of the full feature which appeared in September’s Gardens Illustrated. Subscribe here

The urban planting in Sheffield city centre is astonishing. Everywhere you look there are beautiful examples of just how much can be achieved with a robust palette of well-chosen palette of well-chosen plants, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the Castlegate area of the city where the succinctly named Grey to Green project is helping to transform rundown streets into a flower-filled haven for humans and wildlife.

Until 2008 this area was filled with four lanes of traffic, but following the building of a new outer ring road, a new scheme with just two lanes and much reduced vehicle use (with associated dedicated cycle ways and pedestrian routes) was possible. The liberated space is now filled with a connected sequence of planted beds, rain gardens and bioswales, creating the UK’s longest ‘green street’, and largest retrofit urban sustainable drainage scheme.

The project was the brainchild of visionary Simon Ogden, who was then head of city centre regeneration. He developed the idea that a revolutionary landscape scheme could be part of the city’s response to the catastrophic Sheffield floods of 2007, when the River Don, which runs through the city, burst its banks, causing two deaths and an estimated £1 billion worth of damage.

Simon approached Nigel Dunnett, evangelical exponent of naturalistic urban planting schemes and professor of planting design at the University of Sheffield, for help in developing the project.

The real genius of this scheme is that it works on so many different levels. Primarily, it is a sustainable drainage system (SUDS) that captures occasional extreme rainfall in free-draining temporary holding areas until it can naturally percolate back into the surrounding ground. This relieves pressure on the urban network of drains and significantly reduces the risk of localised flooding. The tree layer contributes to urban cooling, and the linear nature of the scheme creates a continuous green wildlife corridor.

“But in addition to the environmental and visual benefits, this was a genuinely visionary move by Sheffield City Council to establish a very high-quality landscape scheme to create an attractive environment that would encourage businesses to move back into the area,” says Nigel.

And, of course, it is extremely beautiful. These planting schemes are positively gardenesque in their richness, diversity and impact. Small multi-stemmed trees and large shrubs provide a permanent structure that anchors a seasonally shifting mixture of surprisingly interesting perennials, ranging from the spring-flowering native Pulsatilla vulgaris and Primula veris, through spring and summer bulbs such as the spires of orange Eremurus x isabellinus ‘Cleopatra’, alliums and lilies, to an abundance of robust late daisies. A matrix of ornamental grasses contributes to the late-season display.

“People really respond to colourful naturalistic planting, and having dramatic winter-green plants such as the New Zealand sedge, Carex secta, contributes to year-round appeal,” says Nigel. “In cities, where people can easily lose contact with the natural world, there seems to be an almost magnetic attraction to colourful, flower-rich, yet natural planting.”

Nigel believes the plantings probably have ten years before they will need a wholesale revamp, but Sheffield City Council is now fully on board. The ethos is embedded, the concept is being rolled out around the city and that can only be good for the economy, good for people and good for the planet.

City roads were rerouted to allow for new areas of planting, footpaths and cycleways. The planting beds have been constructed to cope with water runoff from the streets with plants that capture pollutants, including plastic particles from car tyres.

Clumps of Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ create upright punctuation for a diverse multi-layered planting. Even though Nigel has included non natives, such as Sisyrinchium striatum and Eremurus x isabellinus ‘Cleopatra’, this provides a long flowering that generates incredible value for pollinators and other invertebrates.

Included among the planting planting are wooden totem-like structures, designed to create habitats for pollinators and other wildlife. The street furniture picks up on the striking burnt- orange spires of Eremurus x isabellinus ‘Cleopatra’.

Cycleways allow riders to weave through the planting where the bright flowers of golden-yellow Achillea ‘Coronation Gold’ and stand-out red Lychnis chalcedonica help brighten the daily commute, and are particularly good inclusions for pollinators.

One of the outstanding benefits of introducing the planting beds is the fact that 24,000 bathtubs’ worth of water is prevented from entering Sheffield’s sewage treatment works each year. The project has shown a 561 per cent increase in biodiversity.

The plant mixtures include plants with a wide range of ecological tolerances from those that prefer wetter conditions to those that are happy when it’s very dry. This ensures that the schemes are resilient from season to season.

8 key plants of Sheffield’s Grey to Green project

Erigon ‘Dunkelste Aller’

© Richard Bloom

An upright fleabane that has unusual deep violet-purple, ray-like flowers and eye-catching yellow centres. 1m x 50cm.

Phlomoides tuberosa

Whorls of lilac-purple, hooded flowers are held on tall, dark-purple stems. The flowers fade well to provide interest and structure in winter. 1.5m x 50cm.

Achillea ‘Paprika’

Opening an orange-red, the flowers of ‘Paprika’ fade as they age to a more dusty orange. A good self-seeder in free-draining soil and important pollinator attractor. 1m x 50cm.

Stipa gigantea

Robust grass providing a long season of interest, particularly for its tall, arching, oat-like panicles that mature to a tawny gold. 2.5m x 1m.

Sisyrinchium striatum

Good structural plant with strongly upright, lance-shaped leaves that give rise to tall stems carrying clusters of creamy-yellow flowers. Will self-seed.
1m x 50cm.

Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’

Clump-forming member of the sage family with long-lasting display of deep-purple flower spikes. 50cm x 50cm.

Origanum ‘Rosenkuppel’

Low-growing perennial forming clumps with rounded leaves and clusters of deep-rose-coloured flowers, loved by insects. 60cm x 60cm.

Artemisia ludoviciana ‘Silver Queen’

Striking, slender, silver-grey leaves that act well as a foil to purples and pinks. Good as a ground cover plant and usefully drought tolerant. 1m x 1m.

Click here for Nigel Dunnett’s Gardens Illustrated Masterclass about how to create long-season planting schemes

When garden designer Stefano Marinaz first visited this Victorian terraced home in northwest London, he was not expecting its back garden to offer a trip into the unknown. Having gained access through the house, which was being extended and refurbished at the time, he was met with a rather sorry space where intertwining paths demarcated narrow planting beds edged in dying box. So far, so unremarkable. “But the further I went, the more overgrown it became – it was like a forest,” he says. “I had to push through brambles and overgrown shrubs and, because the garden is so long and thin, you couldn’t see the end. It felt like a journey into the unknown.”

It is this feeling – of a secret, magical, compelling space – that Stefano tried to preserve as he transformed the garden for the clients, whose only request was that it should allow their son to play football. To do this, Stefano used the elongated shape of the plot to his advantage, dividing it to create the necessary lawn while focusing his efforts on the area nearest the house. Read more about the garden below.

This long, thin garden feels fabulously lush, with repeat plantings of Astrantia major ‘Large White’ and Geranium Rozanne (= ‘Gerwat’) lining the serpentine path. Tree ferns and a tall lilac (Syringa vulgaris) create an effective mid-height layer.

The existing, statuesque false acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia) was retained and makes a stunning focal point from the kitchen and terrace, also serving to shade the house from the sun. The wood-patterned porcelain tiles complement the wooden flooring within while echoing the sleek design of the interior.

The pots, from Atelier Vierkant, were the starting point for the design, their colour blending perfectly with the terrace tiles and the painted wall, along which Trachelospermum jasminoides is trained. In this one, blue Geranium Rozanne (= ‘Gerwat’) mixes with old inflorescences of Salvia x sylvestris ‘Serenade’, which when in flower provides a contrasting violet.

The original boundary fence was retained on one side of the garden. On the other, where it is more visible, it has been replaced with a horizontally slatted design covered in evergreen Trachelospermum jasminoides, whose scented, white flowers are a delight in mid to late summer.

Seen from above, the wonderful textures of the planting are clear, with, top left, Mahonia x media, the shuttlecock eruptions of tree ferns and, just beginning to colour, the serrated leaves of Acer palmatum ‘Sango-kaku’.

The metal archway acts both as a focal point from the house and as a gateway to the rest of the garden, which includes a large lawn and a garden studio and trampoline. The pebble seat is partly concealed by Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra) and Kirengeshoma palmata.

Astrantia major ‘Large White’, which grows to around 90cm tall, is one of the key perennials in this garden. Stefano chose it for its clump-forming habit, its pure white petals and its stature, meaning it really stands out among the planting.

There was an existing clump of three hibiscus in the garden before Stefano started work. Feeling that their exotic looks were in keeping with the jungly look of his design, Stefano has relocated the plants to thread the colour through the space.

 Read our guide to modern small gardens

With dappled sunlight falling on lush ferns and mounds of grasses tousled by the breeze, this city garden is a welcome refuge from the hot and dusty summer streets beyond. The tranquil simplicity of this small plot belies the huge transformation that has been worked here by designer Sheila Jack.

When her photographer friend Lisa Linder moved to this Victorian coach house in Hampstead, 20 years ago, Lisa and husband Neil needed somewhere for their two young sons to burn off energy and so the whole plot was hidden under artificial grass. In the intervening years, the London clay compacted under many thousands of football sessions, so that by the time the boys had grown up, water was regularly pooling on one side of the garden and threatening to damage the boundary wall.

Coming to Lisa’s rescue in 2018, the project began with the excavation of huge trenches for drainage pipes, as well as land anchors, that now hold the wall in place. With little horticultural knowledge but a strong sense of aesthetics, Lisa wanted somewhere lush and green, with space for her still sports-mad sons to play table tennis. Sheila steered her away from the idea of a lawn towards a buff-coloured gravel.

“Grass was always going to be a struggle in this shady space. These Cotswold pebbles are smooth enough to walk on barefoot and bring light into what was a dark spot.” The same soft, buff tone flows seamlessly from the gravel to the terrace of York stone by the house, enhancing the sense of space.

The paving slabs have been arranged in irregularly spaced stripes, interplanted with low-growing Soleirolia soleirolii. “This design helps with water permeability and provides a strong graphic counterbalance to the loose, organic feel of the gravel area.”

To the rear of the garden, the boundary fence is blurred by a curtain of mature Hedera helix and fronted by an existing Betula pendula and acacia, along with another double-trunked Betula pendula near the house.

Between the birches is a multi-stemmed Betula utilis subsp. jacquemontii, added to lighten a gloomy corner and distract the eye from the awkwardly obtuse angle.

These trees informed Sheila’s decision to create a woodland feel here.“I jokingly refer to it as the ‘glamour woodland’; an excuse to plant a pretty but reasonably self-sustaining scheme of plants suited to the partially shaded conditions.”

Key plants include shaggy tufts of forest-dwelling Hakonechloa macra and ferns Polystichum setiferum and Blechnum spicant. The planting is loose and naturalistic, with hummocks and mounds gently defining the central open space, as though plants have self-seeded there, and the planted areas improved with topsoil, as the clay and rubble on the site was unsuitable as a growing medium. Sheila and Lisa wanted the garden to be largely green and the perennials were chosen for their muted charms.

“I wanted subtle, delicate flowerheads on wiry stems, and a variety of interesting flower shapes, but nothing too brash.” So, floating among waves of grasses are the fluffy, crimson spikes of Bistorta amplexicaulis Taurus (= ‘Blotau’) and the airy umbellifers of Selinum wallichianum, each creating seasonal interest without stealing the show.

The family all love the new garden, and the couple’s sons spend just as much time out here as ever. Now it’s established, the garden needs little in the way of watering or maintenance, although the plants do find themselves carefully manicured by Lisa, who approaches them with her photographer’s eye for visual perfection.

Read more small garden inspiration.