It was clear from day one that we had to bring the beautiful church into the design – it was such a dominant feature that if we didn’t embrace it, the garden would be fighting against it.

As the garden was East-facing I knew also that it would be necessary to create a seating area at the end of the garden so that Stephanie would be able to enjoy the evening sunshine in the summer. 

When I took the brief, she really liked the idea of wooden sleeper beds, but was not keen on straight lines.  So, I spoke to my brilliant carpenter friend from English Garden Joinery and we worked through a construction method that would enable me to design curved raised beds that gave the same finished look as railway sleepers.

I wanted to create 2 areas to the garden, one to enable al-fresco dining and the other with a small bistro table and chairs where Stephanie would be able to enjoy a glass of wine in the evening.