Garden Tour: A Small Courtyard Garden with Year-round Appeal
Smart decking and colourful scented plants have turned this garden into a haven where the owners can relax and entertain
Sarah Alcroft
26 June 2021
Houzz UK Editorial Team
When a ‘plantaholic’ who likes to socialise inherited a small back yard with scant greenery and broken paving, there was only one thing for it: she called in garden designer Pippa Schofield and asked her to create an entertaining space surrounded by masses of colourful planting.
Garden at a Glance
Who lives here? A professional couple with older children
Location South-west London
Property A period house
Garden dimensions Upper deck, 4m x 6m; lower deck, 5m x 6m
Designer Pippa Schofield of Pippa Schofield Garden Design
The garden wasn’t in great shape, but the owner had a clear idea of what she wanted. “She’d had a holiday in the States and they’d stayed in a place that had a deck you could walk out onto,” Pippa recalls. “She said, ‘That’s my dream; I want to be able to walk barefoot and be surrounded by plants.’ I said, in that case, we need to build you a deck!”
The decking covers two levels, which are roughly split into dining and lounging areas. “The top deck is nice for having breakfast, then the way the light goes, the owners use the sofa and lower deck for afternoon and evening entertaining,” Pippa says.
She painted the decking dark grey as a foil for the pink and purple planting. The exterior of the house is pale blue, so some of the garden walls are painted to match, with the rest of the honey-coloured London Stock bricks left bare.
Who lives here? A professional couple with older children
Location South-west London
Property A period house
Garden dimensions Upper deck, 4m x 6m; lower deck, 5m x 6m
Designer Pippa Schofield of Pippa Schofield Garden Design
The garden wasn’t in great shape, but the owner had a clear idea of what she wanted. “She’d had a holiday in the States and they’d stayed in a place that had a deck you could walk out onto,” Pippa recalls. “She said, ‘That’s my dream; I want to be able to walk barefoot and be surrounded by plants.’ I said, in that case, we need to build you a deck!”
The decking covers two levels, which are roughly split into dining and lounging areas. “The top deck is nice for having breakfast, then the way the light goes, the owners use the sofa and lower deck for afternoon and evening entertaining,” Pippa says.
She painted the decking dark grey as a foil for the pink and purple planting. The exterior of the house is pale blue, so some of the garden walls are painted to match, with the rest of the honey-coloured London Stock bricks left bare.
The owner already had the table and chairs, but they were rather tatty, so Pippa revived them with the same paint used on the deck to create a smart dining spot. “They looked dreadful – it’s amazing what a coat of paint can do,” she says.
The team built several raised beds to make space for the lush planting the owners wanted. The one to the right of the steps is topped with York stone coping, “to create a useful extra little seating area”, Pippa explains.
The bed contains a hibiscus tree – one of the few specimens that was in the original garden – which Pippa moved from the back wall. The purple flowers are Geranium ‘Rozanne’ and the frothy white and dark pink ones are Salvia ‘Hot Lips’, a plant that, Pippa says, “flowers its socks off all summer”.
Decking; table and chair set, all painted in Urban Grey, Cuprinol.
The team built several raised beds to make space for the lush planting the owners wanted. The one to the right of the steps is topped with York stone coping, “to create a useful extra little seating area”, Pippa explains.
The bed contains a hibiscus tree – one of the few specimens that was in the original garden – which Pippa moved from the back wall. The purple flowers are Geranium ‘Rozanne’ and the frothy white and dark pink ones are Salvia ‘Hot Lips’, a plant that, Pippa says, “flowers its socks off all summer”.
Decking; table and chair set, all painted in Urban Grey, Cuprinol.
Pippa has packed in lots of planting while leaving plenty of space for socialising. “The idea is that it’s an all-year-round entertaining space, so it’s surrounded by quite colourful planting that has good presence all year – lots of scent, lots of colour and lots of things going on,” she says. “It’s all pinks, purples and whites, which I thought would go well with the pale blue.”
The built-in planter around the corner at the back is quite deep and holds several fragrant plants, including Rosa ‘Madame Alfred Carrière’ and star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides).
There are also lots of pots clustered near the raised beds throughout the garden, which create a soft edge. “We put irrigation into the pots – a pipe that goes round – so the owner doesn’t have to water them all,” Pippa says.
The built-in planter around the corner at the back is quite deep and holds several fragrant plants, including Rosa ‘Madame Alfred Carrière’ and star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides).
There are also lots of pots clustered near the raised beds throughout the garden, which create a soft edge. “We put irrigation into the pots – a pipe that goes round – so the owner doesn’t have to water them all,” Pippa says.
The old paving was scrappy and uneven, but it was nice York stone, so Pippa salvaged some to use by the gate into the garden.
She planted some long-flowerers and evergreens to create a nice vista year-round. The tall plant with pale pink flowers on the right is an oleander. “It’s a really good plant for this country in the sense that it flowers a bit later, in June, July and August, and has evergreen foliage,” she says.
The star jasmine is also evergreen, as are the Pittosporum shrubs in some of the beds. “They get lost among the summer planting, but provide nice, ball-shaped topiary in the winter,” Pippa explains.
She planted some long-flowerers and evergreens to create a nice vista year-round. The tall plant with pale pink flowers on the right is an oleander. “It’s a really good plant for this country in the sense that it flowers a bit later, in June, July and August, and has evergreen foliage,” she says.
The star jasmine is also evergreen, as are the Pittosporum shrubs in some of the beds. “They get lost among the summer planting, but provide nice, ball-shaped topiary in the winter,” Pippa explains.
The owner already had this bench – Pippa just gave it a coat of blue “to make it zing”, she says. It creates a spot away from the main entertaining areas for a quiet chat or a peaceful drink.
The frilly flowers seen here are penstemon.
Feeling inspired to transform your outside space? Read reviews of garden designers in your area in the Houzz Professionals Directory.
The frilly flowers seen here are penstemon.
Feeling inspired to transform your outside space? Read reviews of garden designers in your area in the Houzz Professionals Directory.
Hydrangeas in pots soften the area around the steps – blue on this side…
… and white on the other.
Pippa made use of the two levels already in place. “As soon as you bring a change of levels into a garden and use those levels differently, you have that sense of moving from one room to another,” she says.
But she did make the transition between levels easier. “Originally, there were just two deep, narrow steps here,” she says. “We put in three much wider steps to give easier access and make the top deck feel part of the lower deck.”
Pippa made use of the two levels already in place. “As soon as you bring a change of levels into a garden and use those levels differently, you have that sense of moving from one room to another,” she says.
But she did make the transition between levels easier. “Originally, there were just two deep, narrow steps here,” she says. “We put in three much wider steps to give easier access and make the top deck feel part of the lower deck.”
The trellis is painted a slightly different grey-blue to the wall behind it to chime with the sofa cushions. “We chose the fabric to match the house colour, then had the trellis colour mixed,” Pippa says.
There’s a shelf just behind the sofa where the owners can add pot plants or rest a glass of wine. Subtle lighting means the space can still be used after dark. “There are lights around the sofa, and [the owners] also put tea lights on the shelf behind,” Pippa says.
Sofa fabric, Sunbrella.
There’s a shelf just behind the sofa where the owners can add pot plants or rest a glass of wine. Subtle lighting means the space can still be used after dark. “There are lights around the sofa, and [the owners] also put tea lights on the shelf behind,” Pippa says.
Sofa fabric, Sunbrella.
The owners aren’t the only ones who enjoy the new garden. “The day the cushions arrived, the dog jumped straight on,” Pippa laughs.
The bench contains storage; it’s not waterproof, but it’s just the job for garden paraphernalia. There’s a waterproof shed on the top deck for storing cushions and anything else that needs to be kept dry (see next photo).
The project wasn’t without its challenges. “It’s always difficult working in a small space; you have a huge amount of mess,” Pippa says. “We were lucky to have access through the gate, so we didn’t have to go through the house, but the access is compromised, so just digging everything out and moving all the materials was difficult.”
The bench contains storage; it’s not waterproof, but it’s just the job for garden paraphernalia. There’s a waterproof shed on the top deck for storing cushions and anything else that needs to be kept dry (see next photo).
The project wasn’t without its challenges. “It’s always difficult working in a small space; you have a huge amount of mess,” Pippa says. “We were lucky to have access through the gate, so we didn’t have to go through the house, but the access is compromised, so just digging everything out and moving all the materials was difficult.”
The results, though, make the trials worth it. “The owners just love the idea it’s this barefoot space they can literally just walk out on to enjoy the garden,” Pippa says. “They’re right among the planting and it’s perfectly accessible all year.
“The big difference for them,” she adds, “is that they never used their garden before; now they use it all the time.”
Tell us…
What do you think of this redesigned courtyard? Have you transformed a similarly compact space? Share your thoughts and photos in the Comments.
“The big difference for them,” she adds, “is that they never used their garden before; now they use it all the time.”
Tell us…
What do you think of this redesigned courtyard? Have you transformed a similarly compact space? Share your thoughts and photos in the Comments.
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Thank you so much .
Absolutely beautiful and inspiring!
Love star jasmine. The other option for a small plant is Boomerang and/or Dwaef lilac. Being a Jane Austen fan, I got one from Proven Winners called Scent and Sensibility.