To kick off our fortnightly series featuring top garden designers, London-based Charlotte Rowe takes us through some of her most beautiful projects.
1. Chic little courtyard
The brief: The owner wanted her tiny courtyard to reflect the colour palette she had used in her house of buffs, browns and off-white.
The materials: These matched the interiors: the limestone paving matched the owner’s kitchen worktops, the bench and storage unit match the interior floors, and the fencing and trellis were painted ‘peat’ to match the internal walls and furnishings.
The plants: Super simple, and mostly structural plants such as a Tasmanian Tree Fern, black-stemmedbamboo (Phyllostachys nigra), box balls and evergreen grasses (Stipa arundinacea).
2. Roof terrace in Holland Park
The brief: The young owners of the property wanted to jazz up their rather dull roof terrace into a space for evening entertaining. As with all roof terraces, there are weight restrictions, which meant keeping the weight of plants and materials as low as possible.
The materials: Lighting was a key feature: underlit frosted glass panels and glass chippings, and uplit spike spots meant the clients could eat under the stars.
The plants: This was not a space for deep-rooted plants. So Charlotte planted grasses and perennials which reach a crescendo by the end of summer, and alliums and tulips for spring interest.
3. Reflection garden
The brief: Wildlife gardens are not necessarily the most stylish spaces. But the client wanted both good design and style and wildlife, so this is what Charlotte gave them. Although they didn’t want a lawn, they did want the plot to look like a garden rather than a blank space.
The materials: Charlotte created a journey between two paved levels using a limestone path. A dark reflection pool is bordered by a decked area and a large feature wall at the end of the garden.
The plants: Lush planting follows a deep purple and orange colour palette. Drifts are broken up by structural elements including square-clipped box. Pleached hornbeams (Carpinus betulus) screen the site from neighbouring plots, dogwoods provide a splash of colour, and a dramatic multi-stemmed June Berry (Amelanchier lamarckii) is set against the feature wall.
Stunned? If you want to see even more incredible designs by Charlotte Rowe, please visit her website.
Please note that all the images here are protected by copyright. Credits are displayed when you hover your mouse over the photo.
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