About This Project

Newbuild gardens generally present a blank canvas for garden landscape design and build. This small back garden in Essex is no exception. Working to a design created by Tapestry Design Studios, Holland Landscapes have created a peaceful sanctuary conducive to relaxation and wellbeing.

About the garden

This is a typical newbuild garden. Relatively small at just 5m x 7m and with high fences and walls. The developer had installed a shed and a small path. Other than that the garden contained mainly bare earth and clay.

The client brief

Tapestry Design Studios of Colchester created the garden landscape design. The clients asked for a low maintenance garden that could provide a point of interest from inside the house. The property is a three-story townhouse on a residential road. Not only was the garden’s layout key to the design – privacy and peace were important too. Our client also asked for a garden without grass. This being a northeast-facing garden, it would be difficult to maintain a beautiful lawn.

The finished garden

The Tapestry team came up with a truly unique design. It’s a modern take on an old-fashioned knot garden. Curving paths form an interesting pattern when viewed from above. Traditional box hedging has been substituted with cobbles for easier maintenance.

This was a great project to work on. Curves are more challenging to build than straight lines and the landscapers enjoyed using their skills to execute the design. In any garden makeover, precision is important, but in a small space, 100% accuracy and attention to detail are what make the project successful.

In this compact space, we were able to make the most of the garden landscape design budget by using quality landscaping materials and filling the beds and borders with lots of fragrant planting.

What the Client said

“My small garden a year ago was a fenced-in brown muddy puddle on a new-build site, with a small bicycle shed erected to the side. I was referred to Kate as the first step in transforming this outdoor mess into the garden of my dreams. A couple of weeks later I received a compact and harmonious garden design and planting plan which was duly executed in early spring I can only recommend the service I received from Tapestry. The garden and planting plans were of such high quality that they were framed and hung by the kitchen door leading to the garden.” Mrs FB 

Check out our ideas for gardens without grass

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