Having impressed our client on a previous small scale garden project with our reliability and problem solving ingenuity we were invited back to design and construct this garden. The garden was part of a private new house build project and its completion formed part of the council conditions for the house planning permission, much of the landscaping work qualified as zero rated for VAT purposes and we were able to manage this process for the client.
The brief included creating a natural swimming pool and water feature, vegetable potager with green house and needed to respond to the sloping site and take advantage of the countryside views.
The finished design included a large west facing terrace with rill water feature utilising the client’s existing stone water troughs and terracing of the slope with Cotswold stone-faced retaining walls and steps with garden lighting. The 60m long rill runs down cascades as it passes through the three terraces creating the musical sound of running water, ending at a stone well.
The potager was created with compacted gravel paths and Yorkstone terrace in front of the greenhouse, raised beds with corner posts to facilitate the netting when required and fruit trees trained onto espalier frames. A Cotswold stone and engineering brick base were constructed for the Hartley Botanic greenhouse.
A natural swimming pond was constructed at the lower part of the garden with a surface skimmer and marginal planting filter bed. The circulation pump and balance tank for automatic top-up were sited underneath a Western red cedar decking terrace which was screened from the neighbours with hazel hurdles pending the establishment of the planting screen. A serpentine stream, passing through a wildflower meadow, visually links the natural swimming pond with the well at the end of the rill
Shipton Oliffe Gallery
TESTIMONIALS
See what our clients
are saying about us!
"Good morning Joe, Ann, Trevor and team
As you know, we had 12+ people here for last weekend who tested the new garden/grounds layout to the maximum. It was such a joy to see people wandering around the paths, walkways, bridges, steps and lawns without returning caked in mud. A relaxed time was had in the sunshine and there was great admiration for your collective work. We aren’t quite finished yet but so much has been achieved in the past year to such a high level and with such forethought and care that it made a huge difference. The whole new secret garden is practical as well as beautiful and, yes, fizz was drunk there in the early evening.
Thank you all and to Jasper and the rest of the Cotswolds team who have worked so very hard."
Sarah and Richard
Joe, I’m ecstatic I love the whole garden so much! Thank you, you and the boys always give me exactly what I hope for! It’s almost a shame there are no more projects!