THE
PETERSHAM
PLANTSMAN
— Where beautiful living takes shape —
A Green and Pleasant View
A calm composition of clipped evergreens, designed to be experienced from the house.
The brief was simple: a calm, low-maintenance garden to be enjoyed from the living room, built around clipped, rounded evergreens that would hold their shape and presence through the year. The site began with poor soil and a full sun aspect, so the groundwork came first—rebuilding the soil before anything else could settle in and thrive.
The design turns on repetition: clipped spheres of different sizes set out in a gentle rhythm, giving structure without stiffness. It’s a kind of quiet order, softened at the edges with planting that threads everything together.There’s a sense here of something familiar—England’s rolling hills, but seen in a more distilled, composed way, as though edited down to its essentials.
Finding subtler ways to build variation. Silvery Nepeta and Santolina lift the planting just enough, while thyme and Erigeron slip between the gaps, softening the geometry and keeping the surface alive and repressing weeds.
A discreet line of lighting along the path adds more contrast in the evenings, while irrigation quietly takes care of establishment behind the scenes.
Bold shapes contrast with softer foliage, almost hazy at the edges as the day fades. Its strength lies in its restraint, and in the way simple forms, repeated well, formally yet informally in harmony..