Zoned Garden Design Clayworth

This zoned Garden Design in Clayworth was created for a village home with a large, open garden. The brief was for a garden the clients could use all year round, with modern cottage planting, a simple and spacious layout and lighting to carry it into the evening.

With this much space, the aim was to give each part of the garden a purpose. Rather than filling the lawn, we arranged a series of zones around it, each tied to a different part of the clients’ day: a morning coffee by the house, dinner under the pergola and a quiet corner to read in.

Layout and Flow

The design starts at the back gate, where a new path leads through soft cottage planting straight to the dining area. The established wisteria on the house wall stays, kept at the clients’ request, so the garden feels settled from the start.

At the centre, the lawn is left open. Keeping the middle clear is what gives the garden its sense of space, and it keeps the views open from one area to the next.

Along one side, timber arches lined with white rhododendrons run the length of the garden, with spike lights picking out the route after dark. The arches give the layout structure, but they also lead somewhere. At the far end is a quiet reading corner, which gives you a reason to walk the full length of the garden.

The clients enjoy gardening, so a timber potting shed sits off the path from the back gate, softened with lavender and evergreen planting so it belongs in the garden rather than hiding from it.

Social Spaces

The main dining area sits just off the house, where the house extension had created a change in level across the garden. We worked with it. The lawn is re-levelled and the dining platform raised to meet it, with steps leading down to the lower level beside the house. The change in height does a second job too, setting the dining area apart so it feels like an outdoor room without needing walls. A chunky spruce pergola sits overhead, with clematis to climb across it and festoon lights strung beneath for the evening, while LED lighting under the steps keeps the level change easy to see after dark.

At the foot of the steps, a bespoke stainless steel blade water feature gives the brick wall a focal point. Corten steel panels frame it on either side and Mediterranean planting softens the edges. From the table, the sound of running water adds a calm background note, giving the space a sense of privacy without the need for a solid screen.

Garden Features

Quiet Spaces

At the end of the arches, the reading nook answers one of the clients’ requests: somewhere to sit with a book. Set at the opposite end of the garden from the dining area, it feels tucked away, with egg chairs looking back across the lawn towards the house.

The front garden sits to the side of the house, fairly private from the main road. Here, a traditional pergola over the patio doors creates a sheltered spot for a morning coffee. Because it’s straight off the house, it’s an easy place to start the day. Lavender surrounds the seating, and a new straight path tidies the approach.

Planting Plan

The planting follows the modern cottage brief. Dianthus, hollyhocks, aquilegia and Geranium ‘Rozanne’ bring soft colour around the back gate, while viburnum and carex keep the borders looking full through winter. Lavender repeats in both the front and back gardens, which helps tie the two together.

Six ginkgo trees along the rear boundary add height and autumn colour, and help bring wildlife into the garden. Around the dining area, a multi-stem olive, clematis and fatsia lean towards a more Mediterranean feel.

A simple, spacious garden built around everyday life: dinner close to the house, a quiet corner at the end of the arches and a morning coffee by the patio doors.