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12 January 2026The Genius of the Place
Creating an oasis of tranquillity in an urban garden can be a challenge, which is why expert assistance can reap rewards
G ardens, said writer HE Bates, should be like well-shaped girls: all curves, secret corners, unexpected deviations, seductive surprises and then still more curves. It might be a bit of a risqué horticultural philosophy perhaps, but there’s no doubt a town garden should always be show stopping.
Our private landscapes are our retreat in the busy chaos of the modern city, and a place for relaxing, entertaining, a family area or an expression of aesthetic beauty and taste – or all four.
More prosaically, French essayist Joseph Joubert wisely noted that all gardeners live in beautiful places because they make them so. However, creating Eden in your own private space takes more than a well-tended flowerbed. You need a vision. And for larger spaces, the right garden designer – and clear knowledge of just what you want your space to achieve.
‘The client needs to know whether it is a garden for show or for personal pleasure and family enjoyment,’ says London’s doyenne of landscape design, Arabella Lennox-Boyd.
‘It’s important to meet your landscape designer, have a serious look at their work, and to communicate as much as possible what it is you like about it and what your dream is. Communication should continue throughout the project so that you, as the client, really understand the implications of the design and how beautiful it is going to be.’
Perhaps the easiest way to elevate your garden to a talking point is to follow the trends. In 2011, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show laid out swathes of frothy planting, the so-called ‘naturalistic’ style, from designers including Best in Show winner Cleve West, while vertical gardens, such as Patrick Blanc’s living walls, remain on the must-plant list for the innovative.
But as with fashion, so with gardens – and a truly memorable space should always have a personal element to it.
‘Chelsea acts rather like a catwalk, with elements drawn down from it into more general garden design,’ says designer Adam Frost, who has won three consecutive medals at the show.
‘Gardens are for people and like decorating a home, a garden is about personal preferences and influences. I like to take my lead from people’s personalities, and also from the architecture – if, say, you’ve got a beautiful Georgian townhouse you can take lines off the building into the garden design. The perfect garden links back with the house and it all feels as if it is one.
‘A garden is also about your day-to-day connection with nature, and the changing of the seasons. The vogue for controlled, almost clinical garden architecture is changing; people want more of a relationship with their garden now. It’s less about wanting it to look better than next door’s and more about, “I’ve got this space and I want to do something original with it”.’
'A general feeling is that ostentation is out and creating a beautiful place for people to enjoy themselves is in.’
And original doesn’t always mean the most obviously outrageous or overtly opulent design or displays.
‘A general feeling is that ostentation is out and creating a beautiful place for people to enjoy themselves is in,’ adds Frost.
‘Not that long ago it was about showing off. Now quiet quality is key, in plants, materials and craftsmanship – whether you’re spending £70,000 or £200,000.
‘The perfect garden is something that stands the test of time. I tend to play around with elements such as seating, levels and water – perhaps using a lovely piece of cut stone as a one-off to create a water chute. The quality is in the detail.’
Garden designer Rosie Nottage also favours the trend toward low-key quality and longevity. ‘I think the next move will be for really solid, traditional gardens that are built to last as investment pieces that can be passed on to following generations. Materials like Italian marble, Portland stone and brushed glass will always look amazing, and as people decide to invest in their current home rather than move, we will see more of these gardens.’
‘People naturally feel relaxed in a space which is harmonious and easy to use, and each view should be well balanced and proportioned. Less is more – it’s better to use 10 plants in swathes than 100 different species in clumps. Steps should be that little bit more generous, furniture a little larger and colours a little darker. Spaces need to be balanced, but not necessarily symmetrical – for example you can offset a heavy area of furniture on a terrace, with solid trees and bold planting at the opposite end.’
‘People naturally feel relaxed in a space which is harmonious and easy to use'
For Charles Chesshire, landscape architect and consultant designer of Sudeley Castle Gardens, a space comes alive with the flow of movement around it.
‘I like to work with the idea of making the garden into a journey and using the principle of the stroll garden, around a central space. This could be anything from a pond to a lawn, with the journey laid out around the outside of it, designed to take you on and on, with points of interest along the way.’
The journey, he adds, can end with a building at the end, like a quiet gazebo, or Chesshire’s particular love, a teahouse – taking inspiration from 15th-century Japanese Zen concepts, where emperors and merchants would entertain their guests as equals in beautifully crafted structures.
Ultimately, whatever you choose to create, a garden is a living, evolving thing, capable of far more than just the sum of its parts – and never more so than when it succeeds in creating a world in which to escape.
‘A garden has an ability to create something far more transcendent than just a living space,’ says Chesshire. ‘Often, people want to put a Henry Moore sculpture in the middle or a fountain that shoots up 100ft in the air, thinking that will somehow tell you something about them. However, those entering a garden might just be transported through a sense of mystery and magic, which is often the hardest thing to design for.
‘It’s relatively easy to design for the wow factor and buy that with colour and sculptures, but to be really drawn into a garden, and to be captivated by it and create the feeling that you could be anywhere, especially in the middle of a large city – that’s the real art.’
Words: Staff
The Facts
adamfrost.co.uk Charles Chesshire
charleschesshire.co.uk Arabella Lennox-Boyd
arabellalennoxboyd.com Rosie Nottage
rosienottage.com