Family garden in Weybridge

The brief

A family garden in Weybridge. The brief was to create a social area around the pool with plenty of paving for dinners and parties, the house softened with planting and a new lawn by the pool. Paul divided the garden into separate rooms with hedging, giving it a strong, fairly formal structure.

The planting

The anchor of the garden is the multi-stem Betula utilis subsp. jacquemontii in the main bed seen from the house, with Taxus hedging behind it for formal separation. Paul is clear on why they work:

"The multi-stem birch in Weybridge look great. They give a really nice bit of structure to the garden all year round and work particularly well."

Under the birch runs Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' with Nepeta, and Verbena bonariensis coming up through the planting for height and colour, and Pittosporum balls giving evergreen structure through the winter. Up by the house, in the shadier area, are Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood' and Acer palmatum 'Ōsakazuki'.

The front garden incorporates smaller planting. There is already a large tree there, with Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' beneath it and Wisteria sinensis trained up the house.

The conditions

The soil here is very sandy. It drains fast, so the planting is chosen to sit comfortably with that rather than fight it.

The outcome

A garden that works for a family to live in and to look at. The birch and the hedged rooms give it structure through the year, the pool area is made for gathering, and the planting carries colour and height through the seasons.