Garden TOUR
Trickling water and richly planted terraces form the central part of this small formal plot
TRANQUIL PERFECTION
Creating a tranquil oasis for a Victorian home in a traditional part of Edinburgh was the brief for the garden design team at Stephen Ogilvie. “The doctor who owned this property wanted a calming space to relax in,” said Design Director Nick Starnes. “The idea of including water for its tranquil feel and sounds became the central theme around which the design was set.”
The existing garden sloped downhill with a patchy lawn leading to a steep bank with a disused railway track at the very end. “We decided to escalate the slope by including significant level changes marked by trickling and running water,” explained Nick.
At the top level, reached via a flight of steps from the house, a terrace of burnt riven paving complements the colour of the house façade. It incorporates an outdoor dining and entertaining space with apond featuring a bubble jet fountain and beds of lavender, offering pretty flowers and delicious scents. Water from the pond then cascades into a central rill that transports it along a series of falls before eventually coming to rest in a lower reflective pool with an armillary sphere providing an end stop.
“The lower part is designed as a formal garden with a series of geometric beds edged in clipped box bushes following the path of the rill,” said Nick. “Drystone walls topped with a mixture of honey-coloured York stone and the burnt riven stone used on the top terrace divide the different levels with large pockets of gravel in between.
“Beside the walls on either side of the garden are box-edged beds filled with vibrant informal planting, including trees and shrubs, cerise and purple hydrangeas, variegated hostas and purple eryngium together with trellis panels to support climbers.
We included Lut
