In all aspects of design, the best exemplars don\u2019t just make something look good, they make it work well too. And so it is with this garden design, by Harry Holding Studio, in Earl\u2019s Court, London. <\/p>
\u201cWe knew we were lucky to have a decent-size garden in inner city London<\/a>,\u201d says owner Tara Moss, who lives here with her husband and two teenage sons. \u201cBut we never really used the space before \u2013 it just didn\u2019t work for us.\u201d<\/p> You may also like:<\/strong><\/p> The garden\u2019s previous layout featured an ugly, patchy lawn<\/a> overhung by a mature acer and a cherry tree<\/a>, which cast it in shade, but did little to screen the garden from the neighbours. A shed<\/a> was positioned in the only sunny spot. <\/p> \u201cWe\u2019d find ourselves huddled as close to it as we could get \u2013 it wasn\u2019t particularly comfortable,\u201d says Tara. Attracted to Harry\u2019s work by pictures she\u2019d seen of other lawnless gardens he\u2019d designed, she commissioned him to make a space that the family would enjoy both being in and entertaining in.<\/p> Though Harry agreed the lawn and shed had to go, rather than looking to remove the trees, he chose to work with them, relishing the lush, mature atmosphere they create.<\/p> Harry took inspiration from the lush, green textures of tropical forests, adapting his choices to \u201cIt was exciting to have a space that had good bones to work with,\u201d he says. Also in the \u201cgood bones\u201d camp was the beautiful old brick wall that surrounds the garden, to which he attached black-painted horizontal trellis for extra privacy. An existing paved terrace was also left as was. \u201cThe cost and the carbon footprint of ripping it out and replacing it would have been high,\u201d says Harry. \u201cWe decided it was better to maximise our budget through the rest of the garden.\u201d<\/p> The trees had previously been planted in brick raised beds<\/a> and, while Harry wouldn\u2019t normally opt for raised beds in such small space, here he decided to lean into the idea. By introducing more of them (albeit in Corten steel) and bringing them further into the space, he has given the garden more interest and mystery, preventing it from being seen all at once. <\/p> Of course, the planting adds to this and, since the clients are Australian, Harry took inspiration from the lush, green textures of the tropical forests there, adapting his choices to suit the London microclimate. He planted a river birch<\/a> (Betula nigra<\/em>) for additional canopy cover, and three tree ferns<\/a> (Dicksonia antarctica<\/em>) and a banana (Musa basjoo<\/em>) as an eye-catching mid-layer, with a luxuriant underlayer of small shrubs (Pittosporum tobira \u2018Nanum\u2019<\/em>), ferns (Dryopteris erythrosora<\/em>), grasse<\/a>s (Hakonechloa macra<\/em>) and resilient, shade-loving perennials.<\/p> Granite plank paving winds through the plants, leading to the generous seating area at the rear<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote> Granite plank paving<\/a>, softened by vivid-green groundcover Soleirolia soleirolii<\/em>, winds through the plants, leading to the generous seating area at the rear where the shed once stood. To shield it from neighbouring properties, this is framed by an elegant pergola structure across which star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides<\/em>) climbs<\/a>.<\/p> Throughout, Harry has been careful to tie his design in with the dark, masculine decor of the house. The slim slats of the black dining furniture<\/a>, from Hay\u2019s Palissade range, along with the trellis on the wall and the shape of the pergola<\/a>, all echo the window joinery, while the Corten steel planters and water feature pick up the russet of the tree ferns\u2019 trunks beautifully.<\/p> \u201cWe can\u2019t believe how well it\u2019s all come together,\u201d says Tara. \u201cWe eat outside, we entertain outside and I love how it feels like a little oasis \u2013 far away from the traffic and the noise. Most of all though, I love how much our boys use it. They\u2019d pretty much stopped going out there before, now they\u2019re in it all the time.<\/p> In brief<\/strong><\/p>![\"Paved](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/08\/HH-OASIS-Dining_area_T1_8518_preview-edited-scaled.jpg\")
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