For someone who grew up in rural Suffolk, with a father who amassed 17 different lawnmowers, Libby Webb’s compact and lawn-free city patch could not be more different from the garden of her childhood.
In brief: a small city garden in Edinburgh
- What Shady city garden, with high stone walls and contemporary woodland-style planting.
- Where Edinburgh.
- Size 14m x 7m.
- Soil Humus-rich, slightly acidic.
- Aspect West-facing.
Libby and her husband Hamish acquired their beautiful Edwardian terraced townhouse in Edinburgh 18 years ago. At the time, the only requirement of their garden was to face west, to catch the afternoon sun, and the couple barely glanced at its handsome stone walls. Once they had moved in, Libby set about making the existing lawn even bigger, digging out tired shrubs that lined the edges and creating a grassy play area for her young family.
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Fast-forward 16 years, and the garden entered an exciting new era when her two teenage sons’ trampoline was dismantled. Libby realised she could finally create a garden for herself and nature, and so the lawn had to go.
Now, the transition from indoors to outdoors is almost seamless, thanks to full-width glass doors, exuberant woodland planting and a generous pond located less than a metre from the house.
A sturdy metal support has also been installed above the doors to bear the weight of an elegant pink wisteria, which Libby hopes will eventually grow across the back of the house. “It’s a bit of an experiment and I do realise that right now, without any stems twining around it, it looks rather like a giant towel rail,” she says.
From the pond, two gently curving paths lead you in different directions: through a trio of juvenile winter-flowering cherry trees (Prunus x subhirtella ‘Autumnalis Rosea’) and into the heart of Libby’s sumptuous planting; or, alternatively, under an anthracite-grey arch festooned with potato vine (Solanum crispum ‘Glasnevin’) and onto the outdoor seating area. “This is where we have breakfast, because it catches the morning sun,” says Libby, “but the table is also a useful propagation bench.”
Next to the dining table is a modernist-style bug hotel, created from a stack of wood logs topped with recycled slate roof tiles. “When I’m chopping back plants, I tuck bunches of stems into the gaps and that creates even more nooks and crannies,” says Libby. “It’s well used by the local insects.” Above the table, a sturdy pergola bears some vigorous climbers, including Clematis montana, C. armandi, a purple wisteria and Trachelospermum jasminoides.
Despite Libby’s intention to make a garden that was “all about the plants”, like many small spaces, the layout needed careful thought. “The overall design actually evolved because it still had to accommodate the family,” she explains. “My son had a slackline at the time – a low tightrope – so I shaped the cobbled sandstone path in a way that still worked for the slackline, and the position of the cross-path was dictated by my husband’s retractable washing line – an absolute non-negotiable. Crumble, our Cavapoo dog, wasn’t 100 per cent happy either, but she usually manages to find a bare patch of soil.”
What the garden lacks in space and light, it more than makes up for in delightful surprises
There was also a shed to consider: originally located in the most conspicuous corner of the garden, it now crouches, almost invisibly, behind a very large Fatsia japonica. “I have a love–hate relationship with that shed,” admits Libby, “but it kickstarted all of these changes. I can’t guarantee that any of this garden would have happened if we hadn’t moved it.”
What the garden lacks in space and light, it more than makes up for in delightful surprises. A solid backbone of evergreen plants – including Fatsia japonica ‘Tsumugi- shibori’, an inherited cordyline, camellia, eucryphia, box (Buxus sempervirens) and Corsican hellebore (Helleborus argutifolius) – has been supplemented with a carefully chosen palette of flowering perennials and seasonal bulbs. Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’, Allium hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’, Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii and Geranium Rozanne (= ‘Gerwat’) add essential zing, while pale-pink bistorts, white rosebay willowherb, Digitalis purpurea ‘Sutton’s Apricot’, Alchemilla mollis, Heuchera ‘Marmalade’ and white astrantias bring welcome spots of illumination to the dense layers of green foliage.
The paths, although short, are punctuated with charming vignettes: two graphite-grey planted water bowls by Capi Europe are particularly effective, as is a compact evergreen fernery. “The Polystichum polyblepharum (Japanese lace fern) is especially gorgeous,” says Libby. “The delicate, fractal-like shapes on the fronds are absolutely mesmerising.”
And while the garden’s sturdy stone walls deny the plants much light – “For three months of the year, absolutely no sunlight reaches these beds,” says Libby – they do offer stoic protection from the worst of Edinburgh’s chilly winds and sub-zero winter temperatures.
As a result, the cherry trees and the Himalayan birch (Betula utilis subsp. jacquemontii) have all grown fast and straight. The cloudy-grey sandstone setts perfectly complement the stately architecture surrounding the garden, while the oblong shape and simple stretcher-bond laying pattern echo the historic cobbled streets of nearby Stockbridge.
I love how so many people have been inspired to think critically about their own tiny garden as a result of my posts
Followers of Libby’s Instagram account (she posts under the handle @docleaves as a nod to her day job as a doctor) are familiar with her cheerful, self-deprecating posts and her beautiful photographs. “The garden now feels like an important part of my identity, in the same way that medicine does,” she says.
“But the thing that gives me most satisfaction is being able to put the garden out there to a wider audience. When I started, I knew nothing about garden design, or how to make a small space feel larger. But I love how so many people have been inspired to think critically about their own tiny garden as
a result of my posts.”
Would she ever want to try her hand in a larger space? “No, I don’t think so. I’d find it difficult to make a bigger garden look anywhere near as interesting as this. I know I’m on to a winner here, and even my non-gardening husband now ‘gets it’.
I spend hours just standing here, planning how to add even more impact
“The downside is that I do nothing useful with my spare time; instead, I spend hours just standing here, planning how to add even more impact. I’m like a glorified magpie – I’m constantly watching the light and noting where it twinkles next.”
Useful information
See more of Libby Webb’s garden on Instagram at @docleaves