Case study
A garden rebuilt in two stages, pergola and limestone patio
- Location
- East Molesey, Surrey (KT8)
- Timescale
- Two stages
- Services used
- Garden design, pergola, limestone patio, rendered planter, fencing, lawn, planting
- Approximate value
- Available on request
The brief
A garden that had seen better days
The garden had been left to its own devices for years. A rough grass path ran the length of it, the old pergola was rotten and propped up by the grape vine growing through it, and one corner had become the place where broken furniture, spare paving and bags of rubble went to be forgotten.
The owners wanted a fresh start, but not a bare one. The mature trees, the grape vine and the old brick paths were all worth keeping, so the plan was to rebuild the garden around them into something practical they could actually use.
They liked the first stage enough to bring us back a season later for the second, which is the part of this project we are proudest of.
Before and after
The same garden, two stages apart
The design stage
Drawn before it was dug
Our in-house designer set the layout around what stayed: the trees, the vine and the run of brick path down the middle. The garden was given a clear shape, lawn through the middle, planting held back to the boundaries, and a seating area at the far end under a new pergola built to carry the existing vine.
Stage two was drawn once the garden had settled in. The ground under the pergola was the one part still doing nothing, so it was designed as a proper destination: a natural limestone patio with a bespoke rendered planter along one side to give the seating a backdrop.
The result
From ordinary to outstanding
Stage one gave the garden its shape back: a clean lawn, boundaries that look deliberate, and planting with room to grow. Stage two turned the one underused corner into the best spot in the garden, a limestone patio under the vine with a rendered planter framing it, elegant enough to entertain on and easy to keep. A good example of how rebuilding a single area can lift the whole garden.
Services used on this project
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