Family Garden, Dulwich Village
The brief for this large London garden was to design a child and dog friendly garden with a large sweeping lawn for playing football. Create a Kitchen Garden for growing vegetables, fruit and cutting flowers - in addition to a Fire Pit Zone and Childrens' Play Zone in woodland style planting.
Proctor and Shaw Architects designed the house interior and terrace. Nicola designed the expansive, 700-square-meter garden.
Structured across four distinct tiers, the upper and lower terraces transition seamlessly down from the kitchen and family room onto a large lawn. The borders surrounding the lawn feature resilient plants which can withstand games of football and the clients' dog. A Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Cratus' hedge opens into a Kitchen Garden, which in turns leads down to a Fire Pit Zone and a Children’s Play Zone.
Working with Southwark Council and Dulwich Estate Conservation, some of the existing trees - such as Prunus and Salix which had self-seeded and were growing too close to the boundary fence, were felled and replaced with young and healthy like for like trees.
To manage the heavy clay soil and complement the home's polished concrete facade and terrace, the design prioritises sustainable, permeable materials. The kitchen garden features Cotswold pebbles alongside custom oak planters. Similarly, bark chippings were used in the fire pit and play areas - while recycled crazy paving from the original terrace forms a sustainable stepping-stone path leading to the Play Zone.
The planting scheme enhances biodiversity and responds to a changing climate, while also providing year-round visual interest and seasonal berries for birds.
Structural diversity was established using multi-stem Amelanchier lamarckii trees and layered shrubs. These were underplanted with native and non-native ferns and long-flowering perennials to attract wildlife. Working with a soft pastel colour scheme: lilac, blue, pale yellow, pink and white to complement the house interior. The colour scheme changes throughout the seasons​.
Two contemporary terracotta pots with Rosmarinus offinalis 'Prostratus' (creeping Rosemary) feature at the top of the steps - to keep the higher level terrace child friendly.
