Our client was one independent articulate and feisty lady. She also happens to be left-handed and has cerebral palsy. The brief was simple: the garden was to have no grass, be accessible year-round, be easy to look after, and have room to put in additional plants as and when. In other words no fuss, good to look at and maintain. The first thing we did was to remove most of the shrubs which were either too thuggish or past their use-by-date. We then created two levels separated by an easily-navigable step, to remove the marked slope that existed. Within the lower area we constructed a large, sturdy raised bed with a small alcove in it which would enable our client to sit surrounded by newly planted shrubs once they had matured a little. Once the shrubs had grown in height they would also hide the fence and provide a constant changing picture of colour and texture.

The area immediately outside the conservatory was levelled and a large patio was created for entertaining and for relaxing in the sun. For this we used existing slabs which had been stockpiled in the garden. In addition a small raised bed was constructed to run along the fence; its height and construction meant that it could double up for seating.

The bottom half of the garden had several layers of  weed suppressing membrane laid which was then covered with a thick layer of Cotswold buff gravel. One of this stone's great properties is that it compacts easily and is extremely comfortable to walk on.

The planting was kept simple. Escallonia, Daphne and Sarcococca are evergreen and provide the structural accents in winter. In addition both Sarcococca confusa and Daphne odorata provide wonderful scent in winter. A large Photinia 'Red Robin' was retained outside the raised bed, as was an apple tree growing along the boundary trellis. The beds were interplanted with hardy geraniums, Gaura lindheimeri and Verbena bonariensis all of which flower through most of the summer, are a doddle to look after and are attractive to bees and butterflies.

Before

After

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