Lock down garden finished

Family garden in Cheltenham

This year a garden I designed during lock down in 2020 came to be built, it was a long journey, but worth it - reports Rachael Emous-Austin. The house is in the Regency spa town of Cheltenham on the edge of a leafy park.

Our clients, a retired art teacher and company director, really wanted to have a natural looking, country cottage style garden in contrast to the formality of the house, they also wanted winter interest, which was introduced with a sculptural snaking wall, winter dogwood and Osmanthus balls to give structure and colour. This is how it went:

Curving Cotswold stone wall edging the lawn and planting to soften the wall.

Before - a basement terrace and lots of hard landscaping

After - rustic wall seat, soft lawn and beautiful terrace, a cosy space for the family to play and relax.

‘Our first meeting with Rachael was at the very beginning of our project to re-imagine a garden consisting solely of hard surfaces and hard lines.  From the outset, Rachael understood us as clients and quickly developed some wonderful and imaginative concepts for the garden.  She proved to be a great partner throughout the project, and has  delivered a lovely, soft town house garden, full of interest and pleasure. ‘ - Mark & Yvonne, Cheltenham.