This client approached me as he was not enjoying using his very steeply sloping garden in the Tower Hill area of Dorking. This rose sharply from the house, and although the upper garden enjoyed some good views, the area most accessible from the house simply wasn’t being used, so house and garden felt completely disconnected.
Tower Hill Courtyard
A precipitous garden in Tower Hill, Dorking
The Brief
The clients’ existing rear courtyard was gloomy and uninviting, with no planting interest. The house was also accessed by overly large steps which made approaching the front door uncomfortable. The brief was to remodel the approach to the house and to create a small, cosy, green space directly outside the kitchen and dining room at the rear of the house, with attractive shade-tolerant planting and a pleasant place to dine with mood lighting in the evenings. The existing semi-derelict steps to the upper garden area required making safe and re-cladding with paving to match the rear patio. Lastly, the tiny space also needed to incorporate hidden bin storage.
The Design
The existing unkempt brick wall was covered in algae and was always going to be a problem. I decided to clad it with a western red cedar linear cladding throughout, setting into this mirrors to increase the sense of space and light, and mood lighting to give the space atmosphere at night. Modern, funky planters bring a dash of colour and shade-tolerant plant softens the whole design. The new steps smarten everything up and provide a safer route to the upper garden terraces, and the bin storage is provided by a store that matches the cladding of the walls.
