The courtyard garden that Renate Larkin inherited was never going to do the job. \u201cIt was just two levels<\/a> of granite paving, with two retaining walls, and small planting strips at the back and in the space between the retaining walls. And that was it,\u201d recalls Will Cooke of Artisan Landscapes, the Bristol-based design and build studio Renate asked to give the space some Japanese<\/a>-style calm. You may also like<\/strong><\/p> \u201cRenate loves Japanese plants and wanted to create a lush, immersive oasis that could almost transport you to another world,\u201d adds Jamie Innes, Will\u2019s partner, who looks after design while Will oversees the build. And although Renate had some specific requests \u2013 two trees, a Corten steel <\/a>water feature <\/a>and to retain some plants \u2013 she was happy to allow Will and Jamie to come up with something fabulous. \u201cRenate was very giving,\u201d says Will. \u201cShe just asked us to \u2018do our thing\u2019, saying that she trusted us to design a planting scheme that would work.\u201d<\/p> While the brief gave Will and Jamie pretty much a free hand to put their mark on the garden, the build wasn\u2019t without its challenges. The garden is enclosed by high walls that create a lot of shade<\/a>. And limited access through the house meant that everything \u2013 plants, trees, topsoil and the 200kg Corten steel water feature \u2013 had to be hoisted over those 3.5m garden walls.<\/p> The water feature now fits snugly between the existing retaining walls, which have been clad in a stylish charred Accoya. To keep down costs, the original granite tiles were reused on the upper level and on the steps, while on the lower level the tiles were replaced with a ThermoWood decking that forms a near-seamless transition to the flooring inside. A sweeping curve, carved into the decking, creates a large, mounded area for planting around the water feature and a multi-stemmed Betula nigra<\/a><\/em>, and brings the planting so close to the house it almost seems to spill in through the windows. Here Jamie has kept the planting relatively low so that it embraces rather than engulfs the water feature. The mainly green palette offers a rich mix of textures, from the large-leaved Rodgersia aesculifolia<\/em> to the beautifully delicate Disporum longistylum<\/em> \u2018Night Heron\u2019 with its nodding white flowers. Other flecks of colour come from tellimas, epimediums, astrantias, peonies, the hot-red thorns of Rosa sericea<\/em> subsp. omeiensis<\/em> f. pteracantha<\/em> and the tiny, white flowers <\/a>of the airy grass Melica altissima<\/a><\/em> \u2018Alba\u2019 that Jamie has woven throughout the garden. On the upper, sunnier seating level Jamie has catered to Renate\u2019s desire for more colour with softer, meadowy planting that is dotted with seasonal flowers and some plants from Renate\u2019s original garden, such as Salvia nemorosa \u2018Caradonna\u2019, while a Cornus kousa<\/em> balances the river birch near the house.![\"Harley](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/09\/JI_250621_HarleyMews_026_preview-edited.jpg\")
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