The borders in Jānis Raubiška and Martin Paley’s garden look as though they are having a party. Planting designer Jānis says he doesn’t have any time for pastels – he finds them boring. Fireworks are what he wants; a full-on explosion of colour in the form of vibrant red cannas, zingy orange rudbeckias, magenta salvias and sunshine-yellow grasses. Although it certainly looks exotic, he describes his garden as “borderline tropical” as many of his plant choices are actually much hardier than they look.
Extensive remodelling work started on Jānis and Martin’s house, Woodpeckers, near the town centre of Woking, Surrey, in 2021, and while the side access remained open for the building works, Jānis took the opportunity to bring in diggers and make major changes to their L-shaped garden. Deep trenches had to be dug for new services and a 7,500-litre rainwater tank was buried, along with a 7.5-cubic-metre soakaway, which was required to meet local planning regulations. Needless to say, the garden became a total mudbath for many months before Jānis could even start to create any new planting beds.
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“I mapped it all out in the winter of 2021, then began planting up in spring 2022,” he says. “At times it was trying, but it is a very big project and we always knew things would have to get worse before they got better.”
It is a very big project and we always knew things would have to get worse before they got better
He grew up in rural Latvia, where he was surrounded by beautiful, diverse wildflower meadows, and then travelled widely in Asia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East when he worked in the airline industry, so Jānis feels he has gathered influences from many corners of the world. “At home, my father was a keen gardener, so gardening has always been in my heart,” he says.
Close to the large glass doors at the back of the house is an area Jānis calls the amphitheatre, which he and Martin can enjoy looking at from the shelter of a covered verandah, even when it is raining. Self-binding gravel paths surround a circular central bed planted for drought-tolerance. Either side, planting is mirrored in two beds, which step up in height from low at the front to taller things such as cannas at the back – reminiscent of the tiered seating rows in a theatre.
Lushness is what he craves. Favourite foliage plants include airy, hair-like Panicum capillare ‘Frosted Explosion’, Coleus Kong Empire mixed and Japanese forest grass, particularly red-tipped Hakonechloa macra SunFlare (= ‘Habsfl007’) and bright-green H. macra ‘Aureola’. Clipped balls of variegated Lonicera ligustrina ‘Lemon Beauty’ act as anchor points in the central bed and add to winter interest when the rest of the planting has died down.
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Cultivation is what Jānis loves, describing himself as never happier than when he has his hands in the soil. He raises hundreds of plants from seed in his greenhouse – a discreetly modern design made by Robinsons Greenhouses. Alongside the greenhouse is a grow-your-own area in raised beds, where the couple experiment with various varieties of vegetables and fruit.
Jānis discovered his love for gardening in 2016 after he left the airline industry, and took a job in RHS Garden Wisley’s plant centre for a year, while he contemplated what to do next. “It was an excellent learning opportunity,” he says. “I’m the curious type and whenever I was asked a question I couldn’t answer, I’d make a note of it and research it when I got home. I did an enormous amount of self-learning – listening to podcasts, talking to other gardeners and so on, and I also took courses at Wisley and at Sparsholt College in Hampshire to build up my knowledge.”
When he is designing borders, whether for himself or for clients, he looks for contrast in both colour and foliage shapes to give definition and impact. “The architecture in our garden – the studio, shed and greenhouse, as well as the house itself – is quite robust and chunky, so I balance that with the curving paths and waves of planting.” Curiosity often leads him towards new and unusual plants. For instance, he recently put in a pineapple guava, Feijoa sellowiana, an evergreen, tree-like shrub with silver-green leaves. “In summer, it has exotic-looking flowers with fleshy white petals and scarlet stamens, and it’s fully hardy and very well behaved. At the end of the season, it produces little fruits. They were rock-hard so I left them to ripen before cutting them open. Sadly, despite their guava scent, I did not enjoy the taste!”
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Perhaps Jānis’s only regret at Woodpeckers is that he faces peaks of maintenance that can be challenging to find time for. “I am always busy, but in spring and autumn it builds to a crescendo, and a great deal of time, work and energy are required. I think I might need to make some tweaks to even out those peaks, and I’m already looking at hooking up automatic irrigation to reduce watering time in midsummer.” Whatever he decides to change, it is clear that Jānis’s enthusiasm for this vibrant garden will remain undimmed.
Useful information
Address Woodpeckers, Poplar Grove, Woking, Surrey GU22 7SD.
Web grandiflorus.co.uk
Open 30 August and 6 September 2026 as part of the National Garden Scheme. 11am-4pm. ngs.org.uk
