#TheLondonHomeDesignAwards
" Please confirm whether this is your own home?
Yes
" Please confirm that you live in London?
Yes
" Is this property owned or rented?
Owned
" Where is this home (area) and who lives here?
Bow, Tower Hamlets. I live here with my wife, Sue Phillips.
" What did you do to the space and how long did it take you?
Sue and I started redesigning our garden in 2014, soon after we met. The hard landscaping (paving, pergola, wooden vegetable planters, sedum roof, and 'secret' pond) took a year, and it's taken us a couple more years to select and establish trees and plants.
" Who helped you with the project?
Nobody. Sue had some prior experience of gardening having established wildflower meadows in Hackney, and I had experience of hard landscaping from previous family homes. We're not gardening experts by any means, but we figured things out as we went along! We knew what we wanted to achieve - a contemporary garden, with a distinctive colour scheme (yellow/orange and purple/bronze), which would attract a multitude of wildlife - birds, bees, butterflies and other insects.
" What's your favourite feature?
Paul - We've created distinct rooms each with its own seating area, so we can enjoy our garden from a range of viewpoints, depending on the time of day. We use the roof terrace for growing fruits, vegetables and herbs as it benefits from all day sun. There's a tropical breakfast area in the side return; a dining area under the pergola next to the sedum roof; and a seat at the end of the main garden with a 'secret' pond hidden behind it. I like the fact that the restricted colour palette and dramatic black fencing provide a visual link between the different areas.
Sue - I'm very proud of the fact that our planting scheme, insect habitats, and feeding stations have attracted such a variety of wildlife to a relatively small urban garden. So far, we've seen seventeen different bird species including sparrows, robins, wrens, long tailed tits, green finches and goldfinches. And it was very exciting to see a family of blue tits being raised in our nest box this spring.
" How much did it cost?
We spent nothing on labour as we did all the work ourselves. The total cost of the materials and plants was £6,200. We spent £1,000 on hard landscaping . Our trees (two pleached liquid amber trees, a 'niwaki' nothofagus antarctica; a tree fern, and a fig tree) cost £1,800 . Other plants cost around £1,500 in total. We spent £1,300 on Willy Guhl concrete planters and other pots, and a further £600 on garden furniture.
Garden Category Shortlist1. Wildlife-Friendly RetreatLocation: Bow, East LondonWho lives there: Paul and his wife, Sue