Cosy nooks, a sleek waterfall and structured planting make this\u00a0Cotswold garden a place for the family to play and relax in as well as admire<\/p>\n\n
WORDS JODIE JONES | PHOTOGRAPHS MARCUS HARPUR \/ GAP PHOTOS<\/p>\n\n An armillary sphere engraved with significant dates in the lives of the owners is both a focal point and a graphic reminder that this is a private and much-loved family home.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
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IN BRIEF<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
What <\/strong>Private family home. Where <\/strong>Cotswolds. Size <\/strong>38 acres in total, including five acres of ornamental gardens. Soil<\/strong> Clay. Climate <\/strong>Temperate maritime. Hardiness zone<\/strong> USDA 8.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n There are playful elements within the planting to enjoy, including a cheerful clutch of clipped box balls.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n A confident rectilinear design anchors the main south front of the house, but these hard lines are blurred and softened with an exuberant mass of herbaceous perennials, including those traditional Cotswold favourites, wisteria and Alchemilla mollis<\/em>. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
Good gardens take time to develop, especially those on a grand scale, and down a winding lane in a particularly appealing part of the Cotswolds lies the home of a couple who clearly possess the combination of interest, patience and aesthetic sensitivity required to produce something really beautiful. It was all rather different when garden designer Marcus Barnett first visited the newly acquired garden back in 2010. \u201cIt was dated, overgrown, and did nothing to enhance either the lovely house or the glorious countryside that surrounds it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
He had been invited to discuss the area of garden around a new swimming pool. \u201cI had no idea that 12 years later I would still be regularly returning.\u201d But conversations about the pool garden swiftly extended to a complete rethink of the main front garden, and Marcus had a very clear idea of how to progress. \u201cWe needed to open up the views, create a suitable frame for this very lovely house and lay out the space between in a way that suited their lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThey wanted a front-of-house entertaining space for the adults, but also a backstage area where their children could play freely without detracting from the aesthetic.\u201d There was also discussion of an extension, possibly an orangery, that one day would open directly on to the main terrace, so Marcus had to accommodate this hypothetical structure into his plans. \u201cThe important thing was to get the axes and vistas right,\u201d he says. \u201cWe didn\u2019t draw up a master plan in the beginning, because at that stage the brief didn\u2019t extend that far, but we did set out to create a garden with the potential to expand without compromising the existing elements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n The garden uses a muscular, geometric design to organise the space, but Marcus has intentionally blurred and softened the sharp edges with a billowing selection of plants, including Alchemilla mollis<\/em>, hardy geraniums and Stipa tenuissima<\/em>, which sway in the breeze and tumble over paths.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n The owners were keen to celebrate the rural setting of their garden, and this is fully embraced as the level of horticultural formality dissolves towards its boundaries. The herbaceous borders of the sleek south-facing terrace draw the eye out to a cultivated wildflower meadow bounded by native trees.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nVery large gardens can be unwelcoming, but here the space has been divided and enclosed with an intelligent selection of plants that combine exuberant border displays with formal structural elements. Yew hedges and box balls contrast with Amsonia tabernaemontana<\/em> and Salvia nemorosa<\/em> \u2018Caradonna\u2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
The bumpy grass and overgrown shrubbery were swept away, to be replaced by a broad terrace, which gently stepped down on to an immaculate formal lawn, invisibly divided from the adjoining field by a ha-ha. Razor-sharp yew hedges bookend the space, fronted by deep herbaceous borders planted with stylish salvias, iris, Nepeta <\/em>and scabious.<\/p>\n\n
To one side, a broad rill slices along the ornamental bed, running from the terrace right down to the point where the ha-ha demarcates the transition from cultivated space to countryside. Several years after the completion of this feature, an orangery was finally added to the house so, in a reversal of the normal order, the architect was instructed to align his building with the garden design. Today, viewed through the orangery\u2019s elegant, sage-green double doors, this shining ribbon of water stands testament to Marcus\u2019s vision and foresight, leading the eye out to the horizon, while drawing the reflected sky down into the garden.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
\u201cThis is the grown-up side of the garden and it is unashamedly smart,\u201d says Marcus. \u201cBut it\u2019s not just a set piece to admire from a distance; it is also designed to be truly lived in. There are places to sit at all times of the day, from morning coffee to afternoon tea and sundowners, and I know my clients make full use of it.\u201d Their children were also catered for with a magnificent tree house and a flying fox that shoots out towards the neighbouring field. In fact, the owners\u2019 obvious appreciation of their garden is partly what makes it so special. Glossy gardens solely occupied by the gardeners paid to tend them lack soul. This garden is glamorous, but it is also studded with sun loungers, reading nooks and conversational groups of chairs and tables.<\/p>\n\n The clever use of axes and vistas means that contrasting areas of the garden, such as the wildflower meadow glimpsed here adjacent to the formal front garden, can co-exist harmoniously.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n \u2018Floating\u2019 pads of stone provide playful bridges reaching from one side of the rill to the other, and extend the strong geometry that organises this part of the garden.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n The broad rill is a key element in Marcus\u2019s overall design, running the length of the front garden and connecting upper and lower levels via a sleek waterfall. Even in a garden this spacious, the reflective qualities of a body of water will introduce a significant additional dimension to the space.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
A dining table is cloistered beneath a timber pergola and flanked by parasol-pruned plane trees, Platanus <\/em>x hispanica.<\/em> \u201cI was asked to create a sense of enclosure without compromising views from the house. I think this solution perfectly fits the brief and all the elements work together to emphasise the strong horizontal design, which anchors the garden in its wider setting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
On other sides of the house, the gardens are more casual. There are multi-stemmed amelanchiers and masses of ornamental grasses \u2013 Calamagrostis <\/em>x acutiflora <\/em>\u2018Karl Foerster\u2019 and Stipa tenuissima <\/em>\u2013 plus swathes of eupatorium, Alchemilla mollis, Nepeta <\/em>and Phlomis russeliana. <\/em> \u201cA garden can be too hard. You need the softening power of perennials to blur your awareness of the strength of the design that underpins it,\u201d says Marcus. \u201cA garden shouldn\u2019t impress. It should enchant.\u201d Here, he has created a garden that does both. <\/p>\n\n
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