COASTAL RETREAT, WHITSTABLE

When we were approached to create a new design for this large family garden, it was originally unusable in any meaningful way. Our client was desperately craving a garden that felt like the beach and would offer a relaxing retreat to de-stress from her incredibly busy work life.

We love transformational projects like this one. Our approach to this complete redesign was to reconsider the L-shaped plot and work to tie it all together and connect with the house. We achieved this with large beams wrapping around the house to create shaded and sunny seating areas. This would give our client plenty of flexibility to enjoy the space in a range of weather conditions. These different-sized seating areas surrounded by luscious planting made the space feel incredibly comfortable and suitable for all family occasions; relaxing individually, dining as a family, larger gatherings with areas for teenagers and a lawn for younger children to play games.

Usually in a beach setting we would have incorporated more grasses within the planting. However, the client’s allergies prevented this, so instead we researched plants less likely to trigger reactions and incorporated species like phormiums, tamarix, sea kale and carex to create a coastal feel.

A number of trees were also added to this space to provide privacy from neighbouring properties and deepen the sense of calm for our client.