As landscapers, we get to see a range of gardens: flat ones and sloping ones, overgrown jungles and meticulously manicured havens. Most large gardens we visit are outside Bristol, but this one is in the heart of Clifton and, for a city garden, it is one of the more spacious. Set on a steep slope, it originally tumbled down towards the house, with a minimal amount of level space outside the back door. The first job was to excavate soil away from this area in order to create a decent patio. Then we built curved stone retaining walls, using stone salvaged from the garden, to hold back the excavated soil. The small steps pictured far right allow access to this area from the back door. The surface chosen for the patio comprised old paving slabs also reclaimed from the original garden.
Next, we had to make a pathway up to the main part of the garden, which wasn’t as easy as it sounds since one of the main challenges in restructuring this space was the problem of transferring materials in and out of the garden, and particularly up and down the slope. A mini digger is an essential tool when there is a lot of digging to be done, and we had to temporarily flatten out the slope in order to get the machine in and up the slope. We started with stone steps, which lead up from the lower patio. At the top of the steps we created a curved landing and from there we built a spiral flight of sleeper steps, which wind around a central stone “drum”.
The sleeper steps turn up through the steepest part of the garden, finishing at the upper lawn. The spiral shape allows the steps to rise through the garden without taking up too much valuable space and also present a wide entrance to the grass. The stone drum was designed as a sandpit for the kids, which can be easily converted into a planter when they get older. The upper lawn level was overgrown and had to be cleared. Any valuable plants were moved to side beds, then the area was levelled and turfed.
This provides a good play area and, to complement this, we designed a small raised cabin in the rear corner of the garden, pictured above. Built to a small scale, with stable doors and small lookout windows, this makes a great hideaway for children and, at a pinch, can even be used by parents, eager for their own cabin-in-the-woods bolt hole. Further seating is provided with a bench set on a bark area with a pergola overhead, which doubles up as climbing frame. Finally, another patio was built to the left of the grass behind existing mature shrubs. When designing a garden on this sort of gradient, it is important not to fight the natural slope. With clever design tricks, it is possible to create decent, useable spaces within a cohesive garden design.
Next, we had to make a pathway up to the main part of the garden, which wasn’t as easy as it sounds since one of the main challenges in restructuring this space was the problem of transferring materials in and out of the garden, and particularly up and down the slope. A mini digger is an essential tool when there is a lot of digging to be done, and we had to temporarily flatten out the slope in order to get the machine in and up the slope. We started with stone steps, which lead up from the lower patio. At the top of the steps we created a curved landing and from there we built a spiral flight of sleeper steps, which wind around a central stone “drum”.
The sleeper steps turn up through the steepest part of the garden, finishing at the upper lawn. The spiral shape allows the steps to rise through the garden without taking up too much valuable space and also present a wide entrance to the grass. The stone drum was designed as a sandpit for the kids, which can be easily converted into a planter when they get older. The upper lawn level was overgrown and had to be cleared. Any valuable plants were moved to side beds, then the area was levelled and turfed.
This provides a good play area and, to complement this, we designed a small raised cabin in the rear corner of the garden, pictured above. Built to a small scale, with stable doors and small lookout windows, this makes a great hideaway for children and, at a pinch, can even be used by parents, eager for their own cabin-in-the-woods bolt hole. Further seating is provided with a bench set on a bark area with a pergola overhead, which doubles up as climbing frame. Finally, another patio was built to the left of the grass behind existing mature shrubs. When designing a garden on this sort of gradient, it is important not to fight the natural slope. With clever design tricks, it is possible to create decent, useable spaces within a cohesive garden design.