How to make a garden that looks good every day of the year? This was the challenge facing designer Stefano Marinaz when garden photographer (and Stefano’s longtime collaborator) Alister Thorpe asked him to reimagine the plot at his west London home.
“I’m always keen on year-round interest,” says Stefano, “but with this garden, I was very aware that the images Alister shoots might form part of his portfolio, and I wanted to give him something he found creatively inspiring.”
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Alister had lived at the property for some ten years and, though he had a growing interest in plants and horticulture, he knew he needed a professional eye to get the most out of the space. The house occupies a corner plot and is surrounded by the garden on three sides, but these were laid out as separate areas – a struggling lawn, a linear York stone path running between raised brick beds, and a paved seating area – rather than a cohesive whole.
I’m a great believer that if you employ somebody to do a specialist job, you give them as much freedom as you can.
In brief: A residential garden in West London
- What Small, semi-circular, city garden with year-round interest and a choice palette of woodland plants and trees.
- Where West London.
- Size 220 square metres with 150 square metres of planting.
- Soil Free-draining loam over London clay.
- Climate Temperate. Hardiness zone USDA 9.
Thanks to the overhanging London plane trees, the garden is also very shady, but Stefano and Alister saw this as an advantage. “We agreed it should have a woodland feel with an immersive, engaging understorey planting scheme,” says Alister. “I was also keen that the garden felt connected with the house – but other than that I gave Stefano free rein. I’m a great believer that if you employ somebody to do a specialist job, you give them as much freedom as you can.”
Stefano decided that the lawn should go and that a more meandering path would both soften the space and add interest, its curves and bulges hiding or revealing elements along its length. Corners and changes in direction are marked with multi-stemmed trees and shrubs – a key planting device in this garden.
We agreed it should have a woodland feel with an immersive, engaging understorey planting scheme.
Several were pre-existing, including a fine magnolia, an amelanchier and a Styrax japonicus, but Stefano has added more to their ranks, choosing species with as long a period of interest as possible, or with such striking good looks that they will act as a focal point for a season.
In the first camp are Acer palmatum ‘Sango- kaku’, whose fresh green leaves turn yellow in autumn, leaving behind attractive, pinkish-red stems through winter; and Halesia carolina, which sports pretty clusters of nodding white flowers in spring, followed by unusual winged seedpods in autumn. Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena’, H. x intermedia ‘Arnold Promise’ and Chimonanthus praecox fall firmly in the latter camp, stealing the limelight in the depths of winter.
“Multi-stemmed trees are so good for smaller gardens,” says Stefano. “The growth is much more distributed and easier to manage than single stems where all the energy goes into that one trunk.”
For maximum interest, the garden has been planted in layers, starting with thousands of bulbs – cyclamen, Iris reticulata, Eranthis and camassias, for later in the year, as well as snowdrops replanted from Alister’s original garden.
Above this sits a matrix of plants of which about 75 per cent are evergreen grasses and grass-like plants, including Luzula nivea, Sesleria ‘Greenlee’ and Deschampsia cespitosa ‘Goldtau’, the seedheads of which catch the light so beautifully in late summer and autumn. “The grasses we’ve chosen are compact and well-behaved so they cover the ground and give a naturalistic feel without blocking any views,” says Stefano, “and then the perennials and other plants can emerge through them.”
Those emerging include other long-lasting, interesting evergreen groundcovers such as Epimedium x warleyense ‘Orangekönigin’ and Beesia calthifolia with its glossy, marbled leaves and white flowers, alongside some real showstoppers guaranteed to catch the eye. Cardiocrinum giganteum from the Himalaya, which can grow to over 2m tall, is one of the earliest to appear.
“Even before it flowers, it makes its mark with lush, green leaves that look like a giant salad among the grasses,” says Stefano. Next comes the foul-scented Sauromatum venosum with its spotted spathe; then various cobra lilies (arisaemas) and even Lady’s slipper orchids (Cypripedium calceolus) with their petals like twirled moustaches. “The arisaemas especially are an absolute joy,” says Alister. “They stand proud in the morning light like the true performers they are.”
Self-seeders – particularly Lunaria annua ‘Chedglow’ and Valeriana montana – are encouraged, and climbers have not been forgotten either, with one wall demonstrating Stefano’s maximalist approach to a tee. Here evergreen shade-lovers Lapageria rosea (which flowers in our winter) and Stauntonia latifolia (spring-flowering) intertwine, providing two different seasons of interest in very little space.
These are sights Alister is looking forward to but, even if they take a couple of years to materialise, he relishes his increased connection with the garden. “Because of the year-round interest I’m out there almost every day tending to it,” he says. “What I love most is observing the incremental changes. While I’m always looking for attractive vignettes as a photographer, the garden is teaching me how to create them.”
Useful information
- Address Heathfield Road, London W3.
- Web ngs.org.uk
- Open For the NGS 6 July, 2-6pm.
Find out more about Stefano Marinaz’s work at stefanomarinaz.com
