Decorative Moongate with floral & bee design and Alitex greenhouse in walled kitchen garden beyond designed by Heather Martin Garden Design
Planting borders between a swimming pool and sandstone terrace with garden seating and landscape beyond in garden designed by Heather Martin Garden Design
Kitchen garden with Alitex greenhouse to left and raised planters with brick and gravel pathways in walled garden designed by Heather Martin Garden Design
Massed planting of grasses and perennials with walled garden beyond designed by Heather Martin Garden Design
Echinacea, geraniums and stipa planted together to create a colourful border designed by Heather Martin Garden Design
Generous planting of grasses and perennials in prairie-style planting borders designed by Heather Martin Garden Designs

Beautiful & Functional Gardens to suit a modern lifestyle

Rural Landscaped Garden with New Walled Kitchen Garden & Prairie-style Planting

Design Brief: The clients had been mulling over whether to move, but decided to stay in Sussex instead and to invest in and enjoy the space that they had around their rural smallholding, which consisted of several acres, including woodland, a lake and large pond.

Deer and rabbit fencing was installed to protect the client’s new plants, with hedging to soften the boundaries and for privacy. Grass areas were reclaimed from a children’s football pitch to form informal meadows and formal lawns. New planting borders were created near the house to bring the building and landscape into harmony.

An oak deck was built alongside prairie-style planting borders, adjacent to the pond, creating a wonderful evening seating area where the clients installed a wood-fired barbecue to enjoy supper al fresco with all the family.

For self-sufficiency an orchard was planted and new, walled kitchen garden built, with luxury Alitex greenhouse, fruit cages, raised vegetable beds and series of metal arches. Permeable Breedon gravel pathways were laid and walls were festooned with climbers and fruiting trees. A nuttery was planted, providing a chicken run safe from foxes and a ‘secret garden’ doorway installed in the wall between the kitchen garden and relaxed landscape beyond. The curved walls were cleverly designed with a moongate entrance, for which bespoke metal gates were commissioned incorporating a fantastic design created by the client’s daughter. The moongate was AWARDED ‘BEST GARDEN FEATURE’ at the Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) Awards in 2020.

For access to the kitchen garden without dewy wet feet, a winding brick path with oak archway, was built between the house and the walled garden, with low level lighting to maintain dark skies while allowing safe access at all times of the day and evening.

The garden was built and landscaped to Heather’s designs by Outdoor Creations.

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