Garden Tour: A Small Wildlife Haven With Secluded Seating Areas
The journey through this garden reveals a new view at every turn, from tall trees to swaying grasses and a pretty pond
How do you turn a thin patch of scrappy lawn into a wildlife garden with multiple vistas? Step forward garden designer Paul Richards, who created this magical haven.
“The garden had been a very boring grass rectangle with a narrow border up each side,” he says. “The owners wanted a series of places to sit, lots of interest, and something to garden. So my challenge was to create a number of different areas in what is quite a small plot, and for all of them to feel like little enclosed spaces.”
“The garden had been a very boring grass rectangle with a narrow border up each side,” he says. “The owners wanted a series of places to sit, lots of interest, and something to garden. So my challenge was to create a number of different areas in what is quite a small plot, and for all of them to feel like little enclosed spaces.”
Paul brought in four, good-sized trees to pepper through the space. “We wanted to give the garden some height from the word go,” he says.
The tree on the left between the bench and pond is a Prunus serrula (Tibetan cherry), which will grow to about five to seven metres tall and create some shade. The other three are an Acer davidii (multi-stemmed), an Amelanchier lamarckii, and a Sorbus ‘Joseph Rock’ (mountain ash).
The tree on the left between the bench and pond is a Prunus serrula (Tibetan cherry), which will grow to about five to seven metres tall and create some shade. The other three are an Acer davidii (multi-stemmed), an Amelanchier lamarckii, and a Sorbus ‘Joseph Rock’ (mountain ash).
“There’s quite a lot of height in the other planting as well,” Paul says. “That was deliberate to provide layers of screening, so that, as you look down the garden, you don’t see the whole thing. You have to walk through it to find out what’s there, creating lots of interest. That’s also helped by the way the path goes from one side to the other,” he adds.
The couple were keen to do some gardening as well as having seating areas to enjoy, so Paul’s planted a wide range of perennials, shrubs and grasses, including white Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’, silvery Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ (behind the tall grass), and thyme, all seen here.
The couple were keen to do some gardening as well as having seating areas to enjoy, so Paul’s planted a wide range of perennials, shrubs and grasses, including white Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’, silvery Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ (behind the tall grass), and thyme, all seen here.
To create the small patio outside the French windows, Paul relaid some Yorkstone flags that were already in the garden, but he needed to bring in new pavers for the patio with the bench (seen here), for which he chose riven Indian sandstone.
To avoid the two stones jarring, he used different materials for the path that connects them. “The paths are brick-edged with gravel infill,” he says. “That meant we didn’t end up with two different stones abutting each other.
“With the angles of the paths and the fact the planting is quite high, you don’t really see the other patio till you get to it, so visually they don’t jar,” he adds.
To the right of the bench, a Photinia x fraseri ‘Red Robin’ brings in colour – the young leaves are red, then turn green as they mature.
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To avoid the two stones jarring, he used different materials for the path that connects them. “The paths are brick-edged with gravel infill,” he says. “That meant we didn’t end up with two different stones abutting each other.
“With the angles of the paths and the fact the planting is quite high, you don’t really see the other patio till you get to it, so visually they don’t jar,” he adds.
To the right of the bench, a Photinia x fraseri ‘Red Robin’ brings in colour – the young leaves are red, then turn green as they mature.
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The owners were keen to have a pond to attract birds, insects and frogs. “It’s designed with a view to wildlife,” Paul says, “so although it’s fairly straight-edged, there’s a pebble beach to help creatures get in and out.”
The pond planting includes a small variety of waterlily, Pontederia cordata (pickerel weed), and Iris pseudacorus.
“There are quite a few plants in the garden that will bring in insects, too, such as Eupatorium maculatum (Atropurpureum Group) [the tall feathery purple plants seen here] and Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Fascination’ [which attract pollinators],” Paul says. “If you bring in insects, then you also bring in birds, which the owners are quite keen on – there are several feeders throughout the garden as well.”
At the back of the deck against the fence is some Hebe pinguifolia ‘Sutherlandii’. “There are eight or nine plants, and they’ll grow into a cloud,” Paul says.
The silver ball is the owners’ decoration, bringing in a flash of light and interesting reflections amid the planting.
The pond planting includes a small variety of waterlily, Pontederia cordata (pickerel weed), and Iris pseudacorus.
“There are quite a few plants in the garden that will bring in insects, too, such as Eupatorium maculatum (Atropurpureum Group) [the tall feathery purple plants seen here] and Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Fascination’ [which attract pollinators],” Paul says. “If you bring in insects, then you also bring in birds, which the owners are quite keen on – there are several feeders throughout the garden as well.”
At the back of the deck against the fence is some Hebe pinguifolia ‘Sutherlandii’. “There are eight or nine plants, and they’ll grow into a cloud,” Paul says.
The silver ball is the owners’ decoration, bringing in a flash of light and interesting reflections amid the planting.
The deck is the perfect spot to position a couple of loungers on a sunny day. The platform and coping around the pond are made of western red cedar.
Paul planted some perennials around the pond, including Agapanthus ‘Bressingham White’ (seen here).
He also planted lots of climbers along the boundary, which will in time cover the trellis fence panels in flowers and greenery. The varieties include Clematis montana ‘Marjorie’; the vigorous Clematis armandii; Jasminum officinale ‘Inverleith’; Clematis ‘Willy’, and Lonicera periclymenum ‘Serotina’ (late Dutch honeysuckle).
Paul planted some perennials around the pond, including Agapanthus ‘Bressingham White’ (seen here).
He also planted lots of climbers along the boundary, which will in time cover the trellis fence panels in flowers and greenery. The varieties include Clematis montana ‘Marjorie’; the vigorous Clematis armandii; Jasminum officinale ‘Inverleith’; Clematis ‘Willy’, and Lonicera periclymenum ‘Serotina’ (late Dutch honeysuckle).
At the back of the garden is a small studio, and Paul included a deck just outside it from where the owners can enjoy the pond from another angle, as well as the long view back down the garden.
Grasses add movement to the planting, including tall Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’, seen here, Stipa gigantea, Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’, and Carex morrowii ‘Fisher’s Form’.
Grasses add movement to the planting, including tall Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’, seen here, Stipa gigantea, Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’, and Carex morrowii ‘Fisher’s Form’.
Also a magnet for pollinators is the really dark purple Buddleja davidii ‘Black Knight’, seen here on the left. “Buddlejas are sometimes seen as unfashionable, but I use them quite a lot, because you get colour through the summer – and at height – and they’re so good for butterflies and bees,” Paul says.
Like the idea of not having grass to mow? Browse these 14 beautiful gardens that don’t have a lawn.
Like the idea of not having grass to mow? Browse these 14 beautiful gardens that don’t have a lawn.
There are plenty of bulbs in the garden, too, for spring colour, including a range of alliums, Tulipa ‘Spring Green’ and ‘Ballerina’, and Narcissus ‘Thalia’.
The owners love their new garden. “They say it’s changed the way they live in their house,” Paul says, “because it draws them outside.”
Tell us…
What do you like about this wildlife-friendly garden? Share your thoughts in the Comments section.
The owners love their new garden. “They say it’s changed the way they live in their house,” Paul says, “because it draws them outside.”
Tell us…
What do you like about this wildlife-friendly garden? Share your thoughts in the Comments section.
Who lives here? A couple in their forties
Location Halsall, Lancashire
Property A late Victorian semi-detached house
Garden dimensions Around 4 x 14m
Designer Paul Richards of Paul Richards Garden Design
Key to Paul’s clever design is the winding pathway, which takes people on a journey through different areas, each with its own view. “Because it’s a fairly long, thin garden, we wanted to make it feel like a series of spaces,” Paul says.
There are actually four separate seating areas. “There’s a patio immediately outside the French windows, then a path leads to a second patio with a bench, then another path takes you to the deck by the pond, then finally there’s a seating area on the other side of the pond at the end of the garden,” Paul says.