Family garden design for a country village near Oakham, Rutland, UK
When this young family moved to a small country near Oakham village with toddlers in tow, one of their first priorities was to engage a garden designer to come up with a new child-friendly family garden for them all to explore and enjoy. The garden hugged the house in a 'L shape' and so the house and garden already felt firmly connected even though it was little more than a patch of grass and a few concrete stepping stones when I first visited.
The brief was to design a spacious garden with a number of functional and fun outdoor ‘garden rooms’'. Throughout the garden the essential tenant was to embrace fun and learning. Stepping stones, running water, places to hide, a sandpit for digging, areas to ride bikes open spaces, spaces to squeeze through, places to perch, scented and edible plants etc. created opportunities for play within a relaxing and pretty garden - rather than prescribing play.
In another part of this Rutland garden design scheme, garden designer Alice Bowe has designed a sunny organic vegetable garden that combines no dig raised beds, espalier fruit and ornamental sweet peas. This provides herbs, fruit, veg and cut flowers for the house as well as improving biodiversity in the scheme. Areas have been designed so that the children can each have their own mini garden to grow their own radishes and flowers.
The planting design scheme for the garden forced plants to work hard to earn their place – with espalier and step fruit, herbs, vegetables and flowers for cutting intermingling with hardworking ornamentals. The planting has been chosen to attract wildlife into the garden, enhancing the seasonal experience for children and adults alike!
This child-friendly country garden design was designed for a family living in a village in the Midlands UK in Autumn 2007
Garden Design Size: 200m2
Construction Value: £TBC
