This shaded garden was laid almost completely to deck boards that had become dark and very slippery. There were some beds around the perimeters with healthy bamboo, but generally the garden was uninviting and very tired in its appearance.
The design radically over-hauled the whole garden whilst building on its strengths of separate room areas, a lovely glass extension and the atmospheric bamboo.
The decking was replaced with a sophisticated but relaxing grey gravel that was broken up by intervening new planting beds and porcelain stepping stones that added depth and beauty, as well as enticing you out into the space. The planting was carefully chosen to be shade tolerant and draws heavily on a woodland theme with a slight Japanese flavour. There are mixtures of different leaf colours and shapes, together with splashes of bright colour from seasonal highlights of flowering perennials. This creates a soft tranquil atmosphere that invites you to enter and relax.
Structure from the Bamboo (which was divided and transplanted across the whole garden), new Acer trees, Tree Ferns and carefully selected evergreen shrubs provides a strong framework from which the rest of the garden emerges.