Monaleen Heights

Context:
Medium suburban garden, full sun/part shade, young family.

Brief:
“I’ve been to the Chelsea Flower Show a few times, and love the Japanese and French gardens I’ve seen. Can you combine these two styles in a design for our garden?”

Concept:
A strong relationship exists between the semi-traditional architecture of the house and semi-formal style of the new garden. Echoes of oriental and Continental styles are both captured in the use of complimentary natural materials, and generously proportioned functional garden spaces. This is mirrored by a richly diverse plant palette designed to provide a long season of interest, eventual seclusion, and a softening of hard edges.

Key elements:
Sunken stone patio, stepping stone paths, natural materials, raised planting beds, informal wildlife pond, structured screen/seasonal planting, specimen trees, mood lighting.

Key plants:
Focal/specimen/architectural
Acer palmatum ‘Garnet’ – Japanese maple ‘Garnet’
Fatsia japonica ‘Variegata’ – Japanese aralia ‘Variegata’
Evergreen/texture
Fargesia nitida – Chinese fountain bamboo
Foliage/flower
Helleborus lividus – Blue-grey hellebore
Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’ – Black mondo
Passiflora caerulea ‘Purple Haze’ – Passion flower ‘Purple Haze’
Pieris ‘Forest Flame’ – Pieris ‘Forest Flame
Rhododendron impeditum – Dwarf purple rhododendron
Flower/texture/groundcover
Astilbe chinensis var. Pumila – Dwarf Chinese astilbe
Carex oshimensis ‘Evergold’ – Sedge ‘Evergold’
Persicaria affinis ‘Donald Lowndes’ – Knotweed ‘Donald Lowndes’
Flower/accent/seed head
Dierama pulcherrimum – Angel’s fishing rod