THE
PETERSHAM
PLANTSMAN
— Where beautiful living takes shape —
A Well Judged Open Garden
A large country garden brought together through thoughtful planting, quiet structure and a long-term vision.
The owners wanted to realise the full potential of their three-quarter-acre walled garden, creating a series of places to enjoy while remaining true to the character of the house.
Gardening was an important part of daily life, and the brief was to enrich the garden with colour, seasonal interest and a variety of distinct spaces, from herbaceous borders and a box garden to woodland and Mediterranean-inspired planting.
Although the garden already possessed fine bones, including mature mulberry trees, an old wisteria and generous herbaceous borders, years of gradual change had left it feeling fragmented. Individual areas had merit but lacked the cohesion needed to make such a large garden read as a whole.
Rather than impose a new style, the existing framework was strengthened and refined. Formal elements were reinforced with clipped yew, generous sweeping borders and carefully considered transitions, allowing each part of the garden to develop its own character while remaining connected to the wider composition.
Rustic York stone, gravel and traditional brickwork complement the age of the house and help anchor the garden within its setting.
Planting became the thread that united the whole.
Roses, shrubs and herbaceous perennials provide long seasons of interest, while broad drifts of planting flow through the central borders, softening the structure and drawing the eye naturally across the garden. Elsewhere, individual areas adopt their own identity—a sunny gravel garden, quieter woodland planting and more formal spaces—without ever feeling separate from the whole.
The work evolved over many years, allowing the garden to mature naturally and each decision to build on the last. Rather than seeking dramatic change, the aim was always to reveal what the garden was capable of becoming.
Today, it feels generous, harmonious and quietly ordered.
Colour leads the eye from one space to the next, structure provides calm without rigidity, and the garden has become a place where every area has its own personality while contributing to a single, unified landscape.