Park Town Oxford
Back garden in Victorian Oxford brought back to life with asymmetric layout, mixed borders, entertainment and storage areas.
Long rectangular plot is a worn lawn surrounded by overgrown plants
This garden behind a listed Victorian townhouse was a long strip of worn lawn, flanked by overgrown shrubs. Difficult to access, with no focal points and seating areas, the garden was undefined and uniniviting. The owners, an academic couple with a young child, wanted a garden they could entertain in, which would still be child-friendly, provide cooking herbs and some gardening opportunities.
The diagonal plan gives movement to the garden.
There is equilibrium between full and empty spaces
A diagonal design, reaching out from the house, gives breadth to the space, and makes it more dynamic. The design incorporates a seating area, a well-defined lawn, a border for culinary and scented herbs, and mixed borders. There is equilibrium between full and empty spaces, balancing busier planted sections with more restful paving and lawn surfaces.
Subdividing a garden makes it appear bigger
The new layout with clearly defined areas of lawn, borders, and shady seating
The overall pattern is beautiful seen from the house windows, as well as functional. Paving defines each separate area and provides a path, eliminating wear on the lawn. Small, well-defined areas are easier to mantain, and are framed by the paving. Subdividing a garden makes it appear bigger, and giving a specific function to each section gives a logical purpose to each 'room ouside'.
Wisteria covered pergola and deep herbaceous enclose the seating area
The garden and house lacked any connection to the first floor
One major problem had been accessibility. The garden and house lacked any connection to the first floor, and the edge of the garden came too close to the lower ground floor, cutting out light from its windows. Access was though steep and narrow steps, the exisiting soil was useless because it was builders' rubble, covered with gravel. Nothing would grow there, and it was the most uninviting entrance to the garden.
The new balcony
Providing the garden with proportionate access points has made it more inviting
Several skip-fuls of waste were dug out. A new stepped planter lets more light into the lower ground floor. Broader shallower steps now lead from the garden to the lower level, which has also been equiped with bins for recycling. The first floor finally has access to the garden, thanks to a new balcony which has been rapidly covered with scented climbers. Providing the garden with proportionate access points has made it more inviting.
Lavander lines the path leading to the sheltered seating area
an interesting path, full of surprises
Paving leads past scented borders which reveal new views as we go along, making an interesting path, full of surprises, even in a small town garden. There are different views from several vantage points.