Planting design in Cobham
Paul Studholme designed and planted a garden in Cobham, Surrey, that had been built but left without planting. The brief was a white, blue, purple and pink scheme, built around Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle', Olea europaea and ornamental grasses. The Plant Hunter supplied and planted the full scheme on sandy loam over clay. Based in East Horsley, working across Cobham, Weybridge, Guildford and the surrounding villages.
Who this is for: clients with a newly built or hard-landscaped garden that has the structure in place but no planting, and who want plant expertise applied to it rather than a full redesign.
The brief
The garden at Harebell Hill had already been constructed. The hard landscaping was done, the terrace and raised beds were in, but there was no planting at all. The structure was sound; what was missing was the planting.
The brief was white, blue, purple and pink, built around grasses and olives; the olives were the clients' own request. When you are working to a set palette like that, every plant matters. Too many colours and the whole thing starts to feel muddled.
Harebell Hill is in Cobham, Surrey.
The planting
Olives, Olea europaea, anchor the terrace. Paul chose the specific trees and decided where they went. They suit the warm, open aspect there and give the scheme its evergreen structure through the year, holding the planting together when the perennials have gone over.
In the raised beds, Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' provides the white. Its large rounded flower heads are reliable and generous, and they hold their form into autumn as the heads dry and fade rather than collapsing.
Grasses run through the scheme for movement and texture, softening the structure and catching the light at the lower level. These include Miscanthus sinensis 'Morning Light', Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster', Stipa tenuissima, Stipa gigantea, Deschampsia cespitosa and Pennisetum 'Hameln'.
The blue, purple and pink comes through the perennial layer, which includes Salvia 'Caradonna', Verbena bonariensis, Lavender 'Hidcote', Geranium 'Rozanne' and Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant'. Together they carry the colour through summer while the grasses and olives hold the structure around them.
In the lawn stands a Liquidambar, supplied and planted by The Plant Hunter. It gives the garden a freestanding specimen to grow around, and some of the best autumn colour there is.
The colour does the work once the selection is right. White from the Annabelle hydrangeas, and the blues, purples and pinks through the perennial planting, with the grasses tying it together.
The conditions
The soil here is sandy loam over clay. The loam on top drains and works well for planting; the clay beneath holds moisture lower down. It is a more forgiving profile than heavy clay at the surface, but the clay layer still matters for how the planting is watered and how it establishes in the first season.
The outcome
The planting has given the garden its identity. The colour palette holds across the season, the olives give it structure through the year, and it will fill in and settle as it matures.
Talk to Paul about your garden
If you have a garden that has been built but never properly planted, get in touch.
Paul can assess the garden, produce a planting plan and, where required, supply and plant the scheme.
Or read about Planting Design first