GARDEN DESIGN
The garden had previously had an open , wrought iron fence between the old bike shed and the street , which was very visible and a cause of concern . The chic new screen provides more privacy , as well as conceals the car and bins from the rest of the garden .
For seating , Georgia had a metalframed hardwood bench built in , with planters at either end . “ It ’ s a floating design to create the illusion of as much space as possible , rather than one down to the ground that could have closed off the space ,” she says .
The planters are filled with a mix of Euphorbia characias subsp . Wulfenii ‘ Black Pearl ’, two heucheras (’ Blondie in Lime ’ and ‘ Obsidian ’) and Lysimachia . Each planter features a similar mix . “ I wanted to get some real acid green colour in there to lift the monochrome ,” Georgia explains . Many of the plants will look good all year round . “ In a very small space , it ’ s good to have a lot of evergreen foliage . You can ’ t get away with bare patches in a small garden ,” Georgia adds .
To zone the seating area , Georgia designed a tiled ‘ rug ’ which was inlaid into a plain porcelain tile surround . The patterned tiles are also porcelain , designed to resemble traditional encaustic ones . “ They ’ re printed to look encaustic , but they ’ re much more hardwearing and don ’ t need sealing every year ,” explains Georgia .
The stairs to the flat are just visible from the seating area . To add some greenery to the wroughtiron staircase , Georgia clad the risers with artificial maidenhair fern panels . The faux fern comes on grids and was fitted behind the metal mesh of the risers and pulled through the gaps . “ I don ’ t usually like to use artificial , but in the right setting it can be very effective ,” she says . “ And a real fern would have taken a battering here . It gives the illusion it ’ s real because there ’ s lots of real planting in the garden as well . Also , it remains dense , it doesn ’ t deteriorate , and you don ’ t have to worry about stepping carefully . It was a good , robust solution .”
Photo credit : Jason Ingrams
Photo credit : Nathalie Priem
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