The Pathway Garden

Located in North Yorkshire, this generous woodland adjacent garden offered plenty of space and established charm. However the north facing decking was hazardous, the garden often muddy underfoot and the large lawn underutilised and a little uninspiring. The brief was to design a safe, family friendly outdoor entertainment space that also added interest and colour throughout the seasons. We needed to retain the existing York stone, established plants and hard landscaping and to ensure a cost effective design that also respected the existing maturity.

The central design element became the winding garden pathway, which leads from the living room out across the garden and out into the woodland beyond! Lines of vision are led through the garden by the path and one is thus encouraged into the garden to explore. The pathway also gently carves up the lawn and borders into gentle organic shapes (which minimises muddy winter tracks and compression across clay lying turf). The curvature itself was designed to reflect the shade patterns and circular forms of the overhead canopy - whilst also taking away from the boxy structure of the garden.

Long flowering hardy perennials, winter interest shrubs and successional bulbs were planted throughout the borders to ensure long lasting interest. The borders were also brought into the centre forefront of the garden for a prime view from the house and garden dining areas.