Tall trees canopying a petite courtyard and intuitive hideaway reveal hidden depths, thanks to Arjan Boekel’s woodland-edge planting
IN BRIEF
What A courtyard garden of a new-build house.
Where the Netherlands.
Size 13m x 11m.
Soil Sandy, improved with compost.
Climate Moderate maritime.
Hardiness zone USDA 8b.
When Dutch landscape architect Arjan Boekel was invited to design the 13m by 11m garden of a new build belonging to Mirjam and Jeroen Smit, he quickly decided that it should be a courtyard garden. To Arjan, a courtyard means a small, enclosed space with a secluded feeling, and the ones he likes best are those that have the functional spaces along the edges of a plot and a green centre. The owners, who have two young children, wanted a tranquil garden, with areas for outdoor eating and cooking, and for the hot tub they already owned, that would sit comfortably with the glass-and-timber house and look good throughout the seasons. It also needed to be a place of adventure for the children but without the clutter of play equipment.
Taking his cue from the strong architectural lines of the house’s façade, Arjan created three geometric terraces, two in bespoke pale concrete tiles and a raised deck in timber, both materials that relate to the building. Raising the deck not only enabled the hot tub to be installed without excessive excavation, it also allows the family to enjoy the last rays of the evening sun.
Closest to the house, a covered verandah provides a sheltered seating area that is warmed by a wood-burning stove on cold days. Here the concrete tiles create a direct link to the concrete flooring of the open-plan dining and kitchen space.
Stepping out into the garden, gravel paths offer a number of ways of journeying through it, around a series of organicshaped, mounded beds. Ahead is the dining terrace with a kitchen area on the side wall of the flat-roofed garden shed (the owners built the kitchen themselves, cladding it with the same western red cedar as that of the house) and at the far corner is the deck, where the hot tub has been installed. Here a band of Hydrangea quercifolia and Cotinus ‘Grace’ creates both a shield effect and a gradual transition to the ivy-covered boundary fence.
Placing large beds of predominantly green, layered planting at the heart of the garden makes the space seem larger. The restricted palette of mainly grasses with a canopy layer of strikingly architectural Nothofagus antarctica, each one looking as if it has been wind-blasted, is a change of direction for Arjan who is known for his lush, colourful plantings. “Here I wanted to create a woodland-edge feeling as I thought it suited the place and the clients, who did not want traditional cottage garden planting with lots of flowers.” His choice of two grasses, Sesleria autumnalis (70 per cent) and Molinia caerulea ‘Edith Dudszus’ (ten per cent), and the sedge Luzula nivea (20 per cent), shows that it’s possible to create successional interest in a predominantly green scheme. “It’s what I am used to doing with flowers, but with a more subtle effect,” says Arjan. Shade-tolerant Luzula nivea flowers as early as April in this garden, creating a frothy mid layer around the base of the Nothofagus antarctica trees. The bands of zingy green Sesleria autumnalis, which are combined with darker-leaved Molinia to lend depth, are dusted with silvery white flowerheads in summer. In late autumn the Molinia, reminiscent of the wild grasses found on nearby heathland, fires up in tones of orange-yellow, while Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’ adds welcome splashes of white. The flowerheads of Digitalis lutea, which Arjan has chosen for its pale-yellow colour, vertical structure and woodland-edge feel, are allowed to stand through winter, until they become too messy. The quirky twisted branch shapes of the Nothofagus, and soothing clumps of evergreen Luzula nivea keep interest going throughout the winter season, against the glossy green backdrop of the Hedera helix boundary.
Owner Mirjam Smit says the family use the garden all year, with the hot tub and wood stove drawing them to it in winter. But, she explains, with the planting starting only a few metres from their kitchen/dining room windows. “We enjoy the indoor-outdoor view every single moment we are at home.”
USEFUL INFORMATION
Find out more about Arjan’s work at boekeltuinen.nl
Creating transparency and depth in a small garden
Arjan Boekel’s choice of plants and their positioning achieves depth in this 13m by 11m courtyard garden, helping to make it feel larger that its actual size. He wanted to include trees to provide a canopy layer and some shade, and his choice of Nothofagus antarctica, with its light canopy of small leaves and airy branch structure, allows for views through them in all directions. “I also like to leave some space between the lowest branches and the top of the understorey planting.” Although he wanted to create a layered effect to mimic the woodland edge, he did not use shrubs in the central beds.
“Shrubs would be too bulky, and compete with the trees.” Instead, he mounded the soil in the beds to a height of about 30cm for his limited palette of plants, and chose species with delicate inflorescences, such as the early flowering evergreen sedge Luzula nivea and the perennial foxglove Digitalis lutea, to maintain transparency. To create depth at the southern side and back of the garden, he uses a repeat planting of Hydrangea quercifolia, chosen for its large leaves, which turn shades of red and purple in autumn and for its subtle flowers, combined with taller Cotinus ‘Grace’, which also creates a blaze of orange in autumn, in front of the green backdrop of Hedera helix grown against the boundary fence. This also helps to soften the edges in this part of the courtyard.