Conservation Garden

Oliver's client had (very astutely) purchased the land surrounding his home to prevent developers from building on it. The brownfield site was neglected, tired and not at all inviting. It was also slap bang in the middle of a conservation area.
The clients wanted to create an attractive garden with oodles of wildlife interest.
At Arbour Landscape Solutions we think the design and craftsmanship on this project more than meets the brief.

Every once in a while, building regs and planning permission require a landscaper to think outside of the box. This is one such project.
The site slopes, and in order to create a usable patio, needed to be terraced. However, proximity to the neighbour's garden made it impossible to dig footings for traditional brick retaining walls.
Oliver and his team overcame the challenge by creating partially sunken "fence" with a combination of English oak and raw steel posts.
With this being a conservation area, planning permission was also needed to remove the existing scrubby plants and replace them with something more aesthetically pleasing.
Fortunately, Oliver's suggestion of a 2,500 square metre perennial wildflower meadow was well recieved by the planning department.

A series of interlinking, neat, contemporary patios lead up to a completely refurbished and refreshed area of planting.
In contrast to the industrial looking retaining walls, and to one side of the property is a large wildflower area. Oliver has cleverly used different seedmixes to suit the variable conditions. Beneath the trees is a shade tolerant mix while the centre of the wildflower area is a wildlife friendly mix that is suited to a sunny aspect. The entire wildflower area has been underplanted with spring flowering bulbs for an extended period of interest.
A row of pleached crab apple trees offers privacy and promises an extravagent display of pollinator friendly blossoms next spring.
We'll be asking Oliver to send us some more pictures as the planting establishes, so don't forget to check back next spring/summer to see how this project has matured.