Riverside Garden
The long narrow garden overlooking the river Thames steeply slopes down from the house. The level changes are used to create distinct areas for seating and entertaining in different parts of the garden throughout the day, ending with sunset on the deck.
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LOCATION: Walton-on-Thames | FOCUS: Framing the vistas
Design
The garden is divided into three levels. Close to the house, a small terrace with space for a café table and chairs leads to a stepping-stone path in the lawn and the original Yorkstone steps, down to a middle tier. The steps were re-built as an integral part of new raised and terraced planting beds. The original Yorkstone crazy paving terrace was cut and recycled on site to make a drystone walling effect to face the retaining walls of the two tiers of planting.
The planting palette of purples, blues and whites and ornamental grasses frames the vista over the river.
The mid level dining terrace is paved with Indian sandstone, edged with a gravel garden through which drought tolerant plants are grown to soften the hard landscaping.
On the lower, sloping lawn, a deck, steps and pergola built from locally sourced English Green Oak are positioned to catch the setting sun.
Here, late season planting of crimson, purple and deep yellow provides flowering interest long into the autumn and winter. Cow parsley and teazles are allowed to self-seed, blending the planting with the wider landscape and providing a food supply for birds late in the year.
