Portfolio
Riverside Family Garden
The client brief was for a large entertainment space, with seating for 12 people, and a large lawn for 2 active teenage children. My design delivered both of these and used modern burnt timber and steel cable pergolas to match the contemporary style of the newly renovated house. The client also wanted to be able to access and enjoy the river at the bottom of the garden, which often overflows and floods the bottom third of the garden. I made use of this by creating a garden of wetland plants, accessed by a raised timber boardwalk which takes you to the river’s edge and to a secluded gazebo retreat, hidden from the main house.
Wildlife Garden
The client’s main goal was a garden that attracted, promoted and supported wildlife, but they also wanted spaces to enjoy their garden and to entertain their family and friends, including a natural swimming pool. My design brought in wildlife by using generous sized borders throughout the garden, packed with wildlife loving plants, and created an entertainment space which opens onto the natural swimming pool. For the times when the client wanted a private moment I included a more intimate seating area, surrounded by wild flower meadow. This retreat is connected to the pool by stepping stones through the aquatic planting, that naturally filter the swimming pool.
Entertainment Garden
Not all gardens need a lawn - the client’s goal was to maximise the entertainment space and to create an ‘outside room’ distinct from the house. To achieve this I added new borders to surround and separate the new seating area, and to provide planted views from the home’s glazed extensions. The new paved area has both a dining area covered by a metal pergola and an informal seating area around a fire pit. The pergola roof can be fully closed, together with side blinds, lighting and heating, so that it can be used into the evening and for more of the year – the ‘outside room’ the client wanted.
Urban Garden
In a small urban plot, the client wanted a seating area, lots of plants, a water feature and a place to grow vegetables. To achieve this I extended the paving outside the kitchen doors to create a larger seating area, surrounded by generous planting and shaded by a timber pergola. The new planted borders I designed separate this entertainment space from a raised vegetable bed to one side and a more private single seat in the top right, that overlooks the small pond and is shaded by a tree.
Car Park to a Front Garden
The brief was to convert a compacted car parking area into a front garden, with a small private garden for an elderly relative, a separate area for a hot tub, a log store and a new shed – my design had to pack a lot into a small area. My design divided the space with a large central shared border – this provides privacy between the hot tub and private garden and also acts as a focal point as you enter the garden through the gates. The two main spaces were also given a distinct feel by using different materials such as Siberian larch decking around the hot tub, versus paving and stone setts in the private garden.
Sloping New Build Garden
Like many new build houses, the garden came with only a small paved area, a lawn and, in this case, a fairly steep slope. The client wanted to introduce plants and trees, and to have a larger patio with broad steps into the garden. I expanded the paving, added raised borders either side of the steps and made use of the garden shape to give the client two additional seating areas from which to enjoy the garden. These are both hidden from the property by planting, and only discovered when you explore the garden.
Family Garden
The garden already had established borders at the top of the garden, a good lawn and paving adjacent to the house. My design aimed to use what was already there, but extended the paving to allow for a covered seating area and enlarged the planted areas to provide richer and more dense planting. To allow for a larger lawn for the children, the design moved the seating area to the right, but also offset it from the fence line so that planted troughs could soften the fence and provide a backdrop to the seated entertainment space.
Driveway Turning Circle
This planting plan is for a large island in the client’s driveway. They wanted the island to be focal point as you arrived at their home, with simple maintenance and long flowering plants and a fairly muted palette. The planting plan includes some year round evergreen shrubs and a variety of robust plants that flower from April to October.
Contact me for an initial consultation
Email me at: enquiries@harveycatlin.co.uk or call me at: 07748 497 321