Garden Tour: An Idyllic Plot That’s Both Relaxing and Sociable
Discover how a designer took his garden from a boring square of lawn to a beautiful, secluded and inviting space
The garden that designer Nigel Philips inherited when he and his wife bought their East Sussex home was a good size and pleasant enough, but it was a bit dull and, crucially, an 8ft drop from the house. The challenge was to connect it to the home and create a leafy haven with year-round interest.
Beyond the massive drop in level that needed to be tackled, Nigel’s key aims for the garden (seen here in its original state) were to create the longest view possible, devise a journey through diverse areas to help the space feel bigger, create seating spots with different vistas, and ensure there was year-round interest with succession planting.
The longest view of the garden is from the back door to an existing Phellodendron tree in the opposite corner. “When you’re looking diagonally across a small space, it gives you the maximum amount of viewing length, so it tends to make the garden seem a bit longer,” Nigel says.
He’s built a small patio with steps across the corner to give a leisurely descent into the garden, taking in a wider angle. The steps are made from stone-topped stacked tiles. “I cribbed them from [historic house] Great Dixter [designed by architect Edwin Lutyens], because Lutyens was a great advocate of using tile and stone,” Nigel says.
“Between the back of the stone and the tiling riser, I’ve left a gap and put in an inch of soil,” he continues. The spaces are now filled with Erigeron karvinskianus, which softens the stonework. “It’s a great little plant – you only need one in a garden and it seeds itself all over the place. It takes the edge off the hard landscaping,” he says.
“Dividing the steps up, hiding them, and bringing the planting as close to the house as possible all help to disguise the 8ft drop,” he adds.
He’s built a small patio with steps across the corner to give a leisurely descent into the garden, taking in a wider angle. The steps are made from stone-topped stacked tiles. “I cribbed them from [historic house] Great Dixter [designed by architect Edwin Lutyens], because Lutyens was a great advocate of using tile and stone,” Nigel says.
“Between the back of the stone and the tiling riser, I’ve left a gap and put in an inch of soil,” he continues. The spaces are now filled with Erigeron karvinskianus, which softens the stonework. “It’s a great little plant – you only need one in a garden and it seeds itself all over the place. It takes the edge off the hard landscaping,” he says.
“Dividing the steps up, hiding them, and bringing the planting as close to the house as possible all help to disguise the 8ft drop,” he adds.
The garden plan shows the diagonal steps looking across the longest stretch of garden.
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To disguise the drop further, Nigel had a clever plan…
Three steps (the lower one of which can just be seen, far left) lead down from French windows to a patio, which drops down to a pond, and in turn to a bench, creating a much more gentle line.
The pond is 900mm deep and contains lots of fish and a couple of frogs. There’s no filter or pump. “Providing a pond is deep enough, it finds its own microclimate,” Nigel explains. “This one goes cloudy occasionally, but then it clears again, so all I have to do is, two or three times a year, take out the oxygenating plants and the lily pads when they get too much.”
The iris in the far corner is in a pot sitting on a concrete ledge, so it offers a way for the frogs to clamber in and out. “They hide between the pot and the brickwork, so they’re quite well hidden,” Nigel says.
He designed the fence, which is mild steel. “I let it go rusty and then varnished it, so the rust doesn’t come off, but it has that natural, brownish look,” he says. “I designed it to be almost invisible, but prevent anyone from falling into the pond.”
The railing is a nice height for leaning on and looking down into the water. “You don’t often get that view of a pond,” he says. “When it’s nice and clear, you can see right down to the bottom and watch the fish.”
The drop further along is softened by a box hedge, while a cypress tree flanks stone steps between the pond and hedge. “This is my little view of Italy,” Nigel says. “Italy’s made up of water, stone and evergreen, so that gives it the flavour. If you look from this spot, you get the stone, the water and the evergreen with the box hedge and the Italian cypress tree. I love Italian gardens and it’s just a little reminder.”
On the left, there’s a productive little kitchen garden with four raised beds, a shed and a greenhouse.
The pond is 900mm deep and contains lots of fish and a couple of frogs. There’s no filter or pump. “Providing a pond is deep enough, it finds its own microclimate,” Nigel explains. “This one goes cloudy occasionally, but then it clears again, so all I have to do is, two or three times a year, take out the oxygenating plants and the lily pads when they get too much.”
The iris in the far corner is in a pot sitting on a concrete ledge, so it offers a way for the frogs to clamber in and out. “They hide between the pot and the brickwork, so they’re quite well hidden,” Nigel says.
He designed the fence, which is mild steel. “I let it go rusty and then varnished it, so the rust doesn’t come off, but it has that natural, brownish look,” he says. “I designed it to be almost invisible, but prevent anyone from falling into the pond.”
The railing is a nice height for leaning on and looking down into the water. “You don’t often get that view of a pond,” he says. “When it’s nice and clear, you can see right down to the bottom and watch the fish.”
The drop further along is softened by a box hedge, while a cypress tree flanks stone steps between the pond and hedge. “This is my little view of Italy,” Nigel says. “Italy’s made up of water, stone and evergreen, so that gives it the flavour. If you look from this spot, you get the stone, the water and the evergreen with the box hedge and the Italian cypress tree. I love Italian gardens and it’s just a little reminder.”
On the left, there’s a productive little kitchen garden with four raised beds, a shed and a greenhouse.
The couple inherited an apple tree (just seen, far right, in the previous photo, and beyond the white sweet peas here), under which Nigel has planted a meadow. “I kept on poking my eye out when I was mowing the lawn underneath it, so I turned it into long grass and then planted it up with a succession of bulbs – crocus, snowdrops, then three different types of narcissi, one after the other, then Camassia, iris, and finally ox-eye daisies, which come out at the end of June,” he says.
“After that, I cut it all down with a scythe and keep it at about four inches, so there’s a textural difference between that and the mown grass,” he continues. “Then the apples fall onto the soft grass, and I’m able to pick them up. I cut it right down after the apples have fallen, so I can seed the snowdrops and crocuses to come up in January.”
“After that, I cut it all down with a scythe and keep it at about four inches, so there’s a textural difference between that and the mown grass,” he continues. “Then the apples fall onto the soft grass, and I’m able to pick them up. I cut it right down after the apples have fallen, so I can seed the snowdrops and crocuses to come up in January.”
This photo was taken part way through building the pond (left) and the kitchen garden.
Looking down the garden to the right of the diagonal steps, there’s a bed filled with cool-coloured pastel blooms, including Allium, Nigella (Love-in-a-mist) and Sisyrinchium striatum, with the white climbing rose, Rosa ‘Albéric Barbier’, on the fence (since changed to a Rosa Iceberg, whose flowers remain white, rather than fading to brown).
The large pink peonies were already in the garden and Nigel has worked the border around them. He planted a Magnolia grandiflora at the end of this view to close a little gap and increase privacy.
The large pink peonies were already in the garden and Nigel has worked the border around them. He planted a Magnolia grandiflora at the end of this view to close a little gap and increase privacy.
At the end of the pastel bed is another seating area. Nigel has planted box balls at the corners of the flowerbeds. “All the borders have this rounded shrub,” he says. “They’re structural plants and give a bit of unity throughout the garden. You don’t necessarily have to go for the same plant if they’re the same shape, so you could have a clipped hebe or yew.”
Opposite the pastel border is a bed filled with hotter-coloured blooms.
“These flower later in the season, so that when I cut all the grass down [in the meadow area], it reveals this border at the back and it should be at its peak,” Nigel says. Plants include Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ (bright red); poppies, and Geranium psilostemon (purple).
“These flower later in the season, so that when I cut all the grass down [in the meadow area], it reveals this border at the back and it should be at its peak,” Nigel says. Plants include Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ (bright red); poppies, and Geranium psilostemon (purple).
At the end of the path between the meadow and the hot border is a pergola covered in clematis, rose and honeysuckle. “It’s a bit crowded, but has that luxurious feel about it,” Nigel says.
“The idea of the planting is to not know where you are to a certain extent, so you get lost in it,” he explains. “But there’s always a way around – all gardens should have good circulation – so whichever path you walk down, you’ll be coming out into another part of the garden. Because you crisscross it, you tend to get lost, which is good.”
Through the pergola is a swing seat. “This area is beautifully shaded during the day, then catches the last of the sun in the early evening,” he says.
“The idea of the planting is to not know where you are to a certain extent, so you get lost in it,” he explains. “But there’s always a way around – all gardens should have good circulation – so whichever path you walk down, you’ll be coming out into another part of the garden. Because you crisscross it, you tend to get lost, which is good.”
Through the pergola is a swing seat. “This area is beautifully shaded during the day, then catches the last of the sun in the early evening,” he says.
Looking across the meadow and past the apple tree, you can see the lawn, which is lovely for summer socialising. “If we have a party, I stick a table in the middle of the lawn,” Nigel says. “I think it’s very French to do that.”
The garden, with its varied areas and vistas, is always evolving, and that’s just how Nigel likes it. As he says, “The joy of gardening is you’re always striving for perfection and never quite reaching it.”
Tell us…
What do you think about the way Nigel has designed this garden? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
The garden, with its varied areas and vistas, is always evolving, and that’s just how Nigel likes it. As he says, “The joy of gardening is you’re always striving for perfection and never quite reaching it.”
Tell us…
What do you think about the way Nigel has designed this garden? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
Who lives here? Garden designer Nigel Philips and his wife, who have grown-up children
Location Lewes, East Sussex
Property A semi-detached Victorian house
Garden dimensions 20m x 17m
Designer Nigel Philips of Nigel Philips Garden Design
Photos by Nigel Philips
Just as he would when designing for clients, Nigel began by ascertaining what his plot had to offer. “I look to see whether there are any views, privacy issues or changes in level,” he says. “So it might be this frames a view, or that turns the view away from something.”