Mediterranean Country Garden, Oxfordshire

Photographs copyright Alister Thorpe

INSPIRED BY THE MEDITERRANEAN LIFESTYLE

This design is inspired in part by the historic nature of the site and in part by the Mediterranean lifestyle, long lunches al fresco and lazy afternoons spent by the pool. The themes are sewn together by a pared-down aesthetic that bridges old and new – traditional materials presented in a timeless, modern way.

The new limestone terraces are divided by Corten steel screens, pleached trees, umbrella-pruned trees and clipped hedges, to create a series of ‘rooms’ and vistas. Wide planting beds are set within the terraces to help with screening and provide a lighter footprint to the hardscape.

Yew domes and clipped Yew hedging tie the new area to the existing garden and make more of the striking clipped Yew that features elsewhere.

The concept is brought up-to-date by including ornamental grasses and perennials to give a semi-transparent, ethereal quality to the scheme. The planted borders surrounding the lawn have been reshaped and bolstered to tie in with the new design, with the addition of two trios of small multi-stem trees that provide a visual link to the garden beyond while still allowing for a lawn large enough for a kick-about.