The black Limestone paving has been laid on the upper terraces and the steps are almost complete. Because the paving oversails the walls and is visible from the lower garden it is really helping to define the curves and steps that give this garden its unique identity. The lower corner terrace is almost paved and should be complete by the time of my site visit next week. This will mean that the whole left-hand side of the garden is pretty much complete and you will begin to see how the finished garden will look.
There is what I have described as a porthole, but which others are referring to as a moon gate in the corner terrace wall. It is not, strictly speaking a moon gate as it’s not intended, nor is it large enough to give access to the area behind the wall. It’s purpose is to give a view on a new tree and planting behind the wall. Whatever you choose to call it it’s looking great and the contractors have done a splendid job – constructing a circle from blocks and stone is not a simple task and was made more difficult by the fact that the top of the porthole stands proud of the wall.
I have also designed some additional parts of the garden which were not included in the original project scope. We removed a line of Cypress trees that formed a screen around 10 metres tall sitting behind a low retaining wall. The client originally felt that they would like to replace this screen as soon as possible and so I obtained some prices for mature Yew and Bay hedging. However, once the trees were gone the client realised they were not needed for privacy and that the garden was more open and lighter without them, and they have not been replaced. So, I have re-designed the retaining wall that formed the raised bed in which the trees were planted. This wall will be raised to 450mm and faced with the Purbeck stone to tie in with the rest of the garden. There will be a semi-circular seat cut into the wall and two alcoves for displaying some rather lovely antique sculpture which needed a home.
Another area that has been designed is a lower level of the garden which forms a transition space between the middle level of the garden and main lawn area to the tennis court that forms the lowest level. The retaining wall that supports this part of the garden, consisting of some large lumps of stone mortared into place was falling down and considered to be unsafe. We consulted the structural engineer and started going through the options. Problems that needed to be overcome apart from providing a safe structural wall include difficult access, the clients’ wish to avoid pouring even more concrete if at all possible and keep costs down to a minimum. A proprietary system which requires very little excavation and no poured concrete has been chosen and the walls will be faced with planted, timber cribs. I have re-designed an area that sits on top of this new retaining wall which is a steep bank down from the upper garden with a set of steps at its centre and a flat area at the base. We are raising the base of the bank so that it forms a narrow raised bed, then retaining the rest of the bank with the stone reclaimed when demolishing the existing lower retaining wall to make a rock garden.
I also designed the shape of the new retaining wall as a flowing 'S' shaped curve that allows access to a previously dead area of the garden and ties in with the curves and terraces used elsewhere in the scheme. I'm off on site next Wednesday to mark out this curve with the main contractor - I may live to regret using so many freehand curves!
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