Our clients have a lovely early 19th-century double-fronted house in the South West of London. Although the house is generous in proportions and the site is wide, the main part of the garden is only 250 sq metres with a large side return of 5m x 5m making a total of 275 sq metres. The garden has Wandsworth Common on three sides and therefore has great light and is open in aspect. However, the downside is that, as in many London gardens, there is a big fox problem. Little had been done to the garden apart from the construction of a garden house and the aim was to make a beautiful usable space for our clients and their two teenage children.

One of the main decisions was to use the side return for a cosy outdoor sitting area with a fireplace and really comfortable outdoor furniture. The rest of the garden would be mainly laid to lawn bordered and punctuated with low ‘tables’ of Buxus and Taxus hedging. As the garden house is not in line with the large sliding doors from the house, Charlotte Rowe Garden Design decided to create a generous side path down the garden with a large planting bed on one side and a small secondary sitting area. We built a very small platform-style terrace off the house and also a new threshold for the garden house, both paved in the same basalt as the main terrace, and in a small alcove close to the house is a gravel garden and classical sculpture which the owners wanted included.

The fox issue has been addressed through the construction of a stainless-steel wire system which also supports the many climbers which have been planted along the boundary. Two multi-stem Magnolias have been planted within the beds and a lovely Persian Ironwood tree has been planted as a focal point from the drawing room windows.