St. Albans Family Garden

The owners of this garden in St. Albans wanted a modern, contemporary space to relax and entertain that had plenty of space for their young family to play safely.

Steep steps which led from the lounge to a stone terrace were a hazard that that needed to be immediately addressed. Creating a large, raised hardwood deck with wide, shallow steps from the house, provided a much smoother and safer transition that improved safety and made the space much more useable.

A balustrade surrounding the raised dining area was constructed with bespoke brushed steel screens cut with a simple geometric pattern to turn a simple safety feature into a major element of the garden’s design. This casts interesting shadows during the day and is backlit at night.

A large artificial lawn provides a low maintenance area for the kids to play and this is surrounded by attractive borders of structural shrubs, ornamental grasses, perennial flowers and climbing Jasmine to soften the entire space.

A gabion seating area provides a place to escape the sun and will be used for evenings around the fire pit while low voltage LED up-lighters create a stylish ambiance at night, highlighting the key trees and shrubs.

What our clients had to say

John has done an amazing job of re-designing our garden, turning it from a scruffy, messy eyesore into a beautiful family space. Right from the first meeting he was professional, helpful and always went above and beyond to make sure we were happy. Once we'd got the design finalised John helped us find a contractor then stayed involved throughout to make sure our garden was finished to the high standard that the design deserved. We're thrilled by the final results and are really thankful that we found John.

Ian Smith