Garden Tour: A Large Plot is Transformed Over Several Years
Three areas, created sustainably and packed with planting, provide distinct destinations as well as a home for wildlife
The plot this Surrey house sits on might be huge – a vast seven acres – but the idea behind its design was surprisingly compact. “The owner said, ‘Make it eco-friendly and make it more interesting,’” says Kenn Daly of Sustainable Landscapes, who masterminded the project. “That was all. It was very simple.”
Work took place in three phases across three years, completed in 2018, with the garden’s impressive scale informing the design and landscaping decisions. Kenn worked with what was already there – the different levels, numerous hedges and many trees – creating focal points and intimate pockets amid the expansive plot.
“The idea was to reinvigorate it and put in some completely new stuff, which we’ve done,” he says. “It’s a total transformation. The owner is blown away by it.”
Work took place in three phases across three years, completed in 2018, with the garden’s impressive scale informing the design and landscaping decisions. Kenn worked with what was already there – the different levels, numerous hedges and many trees – creating focal points and intimate pockets amid the expansive plot.
“The idea was to reinvigorate it and put in some completely new stuff, which we’ve done,” he says. “It’s a total transformation. The owner is blown away by it.”
Phase one was to create this beautiful wildlife pond on the site of an old septic tank, made of concrete and overgrown with brambles.
“We worked with it and used part of the structure to build the pond,” Kenn says. “When we dug down, it was basically like a sand quarry underneath. We worried about the water just draining away, it was so free-draining, so we incorporated a lot of manure into the soil to get it to retain moisture and added thick layers of mulch.”
“We worked with it and used part of the structure to build the pond,” Kenn says. “When we dug down, it was basically like a sand quarry underneath. We worried about the water just draining away, it was so free-draining, so we incorporated a lot of manure into the soil to get it to retain moisture and added thick layers of mulch.”
This is the pond looking much sparser immediately upon completion in April 2015. It took two months to create. “You have great views of the garden beyond it,” Kenn says.
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Another shot of the pond when it was newly completed, looking towards the bench seating.
Now, the pond is home to newts and dragonflies and won a Surrey Wildlife Trust gold award. The planting around it includes foxgloves, Alchemilla mollis (lady’s mantle, which has frothy, acid green flowers) and Sambucus nigra ‘Black Lace’.
The second phase of work was the terrace garden. “You can see it as soon as you come onto the driveway,” Kenn says, “so we wanted to create a focal point from the bottom of the drive.”
The paving is limestone. “We used a concrete crusher to crush all of the old paving slabs to make the hardcore base,” he says. The planting includes Rudbeckia and salvias.
The paving is limestone. “We used a concrete crusher to crush all of the old paving slabs to make the hardcore base,” he says. The planting includes Rudbeckia and salvias.
The terrace garden 10 months after completion in September 2016.
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Here’s another view of the terrace taken at this time, soon after it was created. Planting includes poppies, lavender and heucheras.
This is the terrace now, seen from the other end: raised beds are built with sustainable Douglas fir, grown in Scotland, rather than with timber shipped in from abroad. It’s not pressure treated, so contains no harmful chemicals, and instead its natural oils condition the wood. “We try to tick as many sustainability boxes as we can,” Kenn says.
The final phase of the design was to create the dry stone wall garden, which is close to the house. It was not a quick process and work started in November 2017 and finished in March 2018.
This is roughly the same view before work started. The owners’ kitchen – on the near side of the house with the glass roof, and directly in line with the square of the old terrace – overlooks this part of the garden.
The small terrace that was originally there looked lost amid the big landscape.
This photo shows work underway on the dry stone wall garden.
This is the dry stone wall garden soon after it was completed, before the planting had become fully established. It shows the impressive, muscular style of the landscaping.
“One of the challenges was the size of this garden,” Kenn says. “Everything had to be to scale. We couldn’t have a little wall here, it had to be grand.”
The wall also performs a structural role, another reason for its size. “It’s holding back quite a bit of earth,” Kenn says.
“One of the challenges was the size of this garden,” Kenn says. “Everything had to be to scale. We couldn’t have a little wall here, it had to be grand.”
The wall also performs a structural role, another reason for its size. “It’s holding back quite a bit of earth,” Kenn says.
Five years later (when this photo was taken), planting softens the lines of the dry stone wall garden. The rounded shape of the terrace carved into the bank, with steps on either side, creates a cocooning feel.
“It’s like the garden is giving you a hug,” Kenn says. With sustainability in mind, he sourced the stone from a local quarry in Horsham. “The house is made of Reigate stone, which is quite pale, but you can’t get that anymore; all the quarries have been abandoned,” he says. “But Horsham in West Sussex is not too far from here.”
The purple flowers growing at the top are a salvia – Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’.
Paving and bricks, Horsham Stone & Reclamation.
“It’s like the garden is giving you a hug,” Kenn says. With sustainability in mind, he sourced the stone from a local quarry in Horsham. “The house is made of Reigate stone, which is quite pale, but you can’t get that anymore; all the quarries have been abandoned,” he says. “But Horsham in West Sussex is not too far from here.”
The purple flowers growing at the top are a salvia – Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’.
Paving and bricks, Horsham Stone & Reclamation.
Now the view from the kitchen is over a sizeable terrace, where there’s space for relaxing and dining, with the dry stone wall beyond.
Kenn added in lots of grasses and flowering plants. “The whole garden is heavy on the herbaceous stuff,” he says. “The owner loves flowers and keeps bees, too, so I wanted to work in as many flowers as possible.”
Kenn added in lots of grasses and flowering plants. “The whole garden is heavy on the herbaceous stuff,” he says. “The owner loves flowers and keeps bees, too, so I wanted to work in as many flowers as possible.”
At the base of the wall is a sheltered seating area. “You can go out and sit there and feel as if you’re enveloped,” Kenn says. “In a big garden like this, it’s important to create intimate pockets.”
Two more sets of steps continue the curved lines above the dry stone wall garden and lead to an area of lawn. Euphorbia and grasses are planted between them.
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Working with what was already in the garden, Kenn left the beech hedging in place, but did take out some of the numerous laurels that were here, to let in more light.
“There were too many,” he says. Instead, he planted Buddleja to attract butterflies and boost the biodiversity.
“There were too many,” he says. Instead, he planted Buddleja to attract butterflies and boost the biodiversity.
Despite the sandy soil, the garden’s planting has thrived. “Plants are like people,” Kenn says. “Some won’t like being in a particular place and you think, that’s odd, it’s the right soil and aspect, but it’s just died. You just have to run with it and see what works for the site.”
The garden continues to grow and establish, and holds a special place in Kenn’s heart. “This is my personal favourite out of every job I’ve worked on over 20 years of professional landscaping,” he says. “It’s just so peaceful, so beautiful. Everybody who worked here said the same thing. It had a nice energy, with no road noise, only the sound of birds. Just lovely.”
Tell us…
What inspires you about this large-scale garden redesign? Let us know in the Comments.
Tell us…
What inspires you about this large-scale garden redesign? Let us know in the Comments.
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Who lives here? A couple with two grown-up children
Location Reigate, Surrey
Property A late Victorian detached house
Garden dimensions Around 7 acres
Designer Kenn Daly of Sustainable Landscapes
Photos by Jason Wood
Kenn had maintained the owner’s previous garden, and when she moved from London to Surrey with her family, she asked him to landscape this new, very large plot.
“They were moving away from the stresses and strains of the city, where her husband worked in finance,” he says. “They wanted quiet country living.”