Eaglestone Gardens × SEED Landscapes

This garden was a collaboration with SEED Landscapes, the principal designers commissioned by the clients. SEED created a beautiful scheme that wraps around the house, working with a steeply sloping site rather than against it.

At the front, the garden and driveway were reconfigured and most of the space was given back to nature. Native hedges and trees now frame a meadow that we sowed ourselves. In spring, multi-stemmed amelanchiers burst into blossom above it, and pale stone steps climb gently through the long grasses to the front door.

Behind the house, a richly planted terrace becomes the heart of the garden, a sheltered place to gather and eat outdoors. Grasses soften the edges, and bold foliage and late-season flowers bring colour and texture right up to the table. There are two ways to reach it: straight out from the kitchen, or up the planted steps.

The steps are the part of the garden that stops people. Plants spill over them on both sides, with ferns, soft mounds of foliage and clouds of tiny daisies settling into every edge and crevice. A log wall runs alongside them, adding texture and giving shelter to wildlife. The climb stops feeling like a route between levels and becomes a slow, magical walk up to the main terrace.

We also built an L-shaped drystone bench into the terrace, made by hand in local stone. It sits comfortably in the planting and gives a lovely spot to sit among the flowers.