Take a stroll around the historic Dutch city of Utrecht, as the bells of its wonder what lies behind some of the characterful townhouses that line its cobbled streets. Chances are the lush oasis designer Erik Funneman has created for one of these won’t be what immediately comes to mind.
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The small, narrow garden slopes upwards from the house, and although it is south-facing the high walls of neighbouring buildings cast the lower part in shade for much of the day. The owners, Susanne Rutten and Richard Fens, wanted to create a much more flexible space that would include areas where they could relax and soak up the sun’s rays and enjoy a meal. They had also planned for the garden to be part of a major renovation project that also included refurbishment of their 17th-century home. So, as key elements for the garden – including a water feature that weighed almost a tonne – had to be brought through the house, Erik was under pressure to complete the work at speed.
If a shortened build schedule created stress for Erik, it doesn’t show in the finished garden, which is a haven of peace and calm in a busy city. At its far end, in the sunniest part, Erik has created a gravelled seating area where two lounge chairs and a lightweight table can be easily moved around to follow the sun. The owners were keen to maintain some of the existing green planting, including climbing plants that cross the garden on tensioned wires, which gave the garden its distinctive lush feel. To bring more sunlight into this upper section, Erik removed some of the trailing plants and instead cocooned the seating area in a lush mix of planting. “What I wanted to get from the inside to the outside was more green,” he says. “So I used large-leaf plants, such as Fatsia japonica and Hydrangea quercifolia, to create a luscious backdrop to the garden.”
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Against this green backdrop, Erik has added pinpoints of colour from perennials, such as crocosmias and astrantias, alongside flowering shrubs, including Hydrangea quercifolia, Stachyurus salicifolius and Escallonia ‘Iveyi’, but it is the rich mix of foliage textures and green hues that give this garden its peaceful harmony. Erik, who has always had a passion for aquariums and terrariums, was delighted to discover the garden’s pond was home to the toad species Alytes obstetricans, which is becoming increasingly rare in the Netherlands. “It was important to retain their natural habitat,” he says, “but I also needed to improve the appearance of the pond.” Erik has now turned it into an attractive water feature by adding a hollowed-out boulder he sourced from Van Harn. Fed by a bent copper pipe, this water-filled boulder flows into the original pond adding the gentle sound of water to the sense of tranquillity. Smooth stones along the water’s edge provide easy access for toads and blend the boulder with the light coloured gravel, also from Van Harn, he’s used to accentuate the lush greens and aid water retention in summer.
The same loose gravel fills the generous set of steps that now lead down to the house through soft grass and fresh foliage. By moving these to the centre of the garden and retaining the gravel with slate blocks that mirror the dark cobbles on the lower level, Erik has created a more gradual transition between the upper and lower levels. Originally, the lowest section was little more than a narrow path, squeezed between the side extension and a wide raised bed, but by moving the bed’s low retaining wall towards one side of the garden Erik created space to comfortably house a table and chairs.
Mindful of the owners’ desire to look out on an immersive sea of green, Erik brought the planting up to the house, adding two spectacular evergreen trees – a Magnolia virginiana and a Eucalyptus gunnii Azura (= ‘Cagire’) – close to the living room windows so the view is dominated by foliage even in the depths of winter. For the lower section, he also maintained many of the climbing plants that cross the garden on tensioned wires, bathing this dining space in dappled shade and helping to filter the sunlight that hits the back of the house. To the existing mix of old roses, jasmine and vines, Erik has added the new vines and the evergreen climber Hydrangea seemannii. Now well-established, the latter blends beautifully with the older plants even though it needs a light trim to avoid the space becoming too dark in summer.
Several large mature plants remained in place throughout the garden, including an impressive Trachycarpus fortunei that hides a second set of steeper steps, while others, including a Dicksonia antarctica, were moved to more optimal locations. Erik also reused as much of the original soil as possible, even though this largely sandy soil proved difficult for some plants, and some of the new plants struggled to establish themselves among the older, well-rooted flora. Most of Erik’s introductions, however, are now thriving despite or because of the conditions. The grass Anemanthele lessoniana, for example, which now softens the central steps was chosen as it can easily cope with the dry conditions at the base of the Trachycarpus fortunei.
Erik’s decision to preserve many older plants was motivated in part by a need to keep down costs, but he also wanted the garden to reflect its historic setting. On the lower level he retained some of the original paving, mixing the paler-coloured cobbles with the new dark-coloured setts and encouraged mind-your-own-business, Soleirolia soleirolii, to spread between the gaps in the paving. This also now grows happily in gaps in the retaining wall along with ferns, moss and the compact mondo grass Ophiopogon japonicus ‘Minor’ – all adding to an overall feel that this is a garden that has existed for years.
Susanne and Richard love their new garden with an old soul, and have become enthusiastic gardeners who, with the help of their adult children, look after the planting with only minimal support from a landscape company for an autumn cutback. They especially enjoy the privacy the foliage affords in summer, hiding the surrounding buildings. “We have so much wildlife in the garden, which is special in the centre of Utrecht,” they say. “Birds always come to drink from the water feature and reward us with their song throughout the day.”
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Find out more about Erik Funneman’s work on Instagram @erik_funneman
