private view ‘I wanted to do proper gardening.’ The back garden faces east, measures 8m x 15m, and has two very distinct levels: the main garden and a lower terrace. Deborah grows flowers and some fruit in the main garden, in long thin raised beds that sit between slate paddle-stone paths. The stones were laid in two orientations to create visual interest in the small space. ‘The hard finishes are the slate, decking and some mild steel laid as heavy plate between the raised beds. The garden is a concentrated space, so I’ve used a very small area of some materials to stop and hold you for a while.’ The colour palette of the garden has been carefully selected to complement the rust of curved and twisting rebar shapes that feature throughout the beds, which take the eye round the garden and add a strong scupltural element to the whole. These poles are usually used for reinforcing concrete. The lower area was dug out during the extension build, and tranformed into a terrace, where before there had been only a slope to the basement. It is very private and catches the sun in the morning. It features a modern pool with fountain, a sculptural tree fern and grey limestone paving - the same flooring used in the house, with no level change here between inside and outside. The garden in front of the house, edged with railings, gives straight out on to a main road, and is full of flowers, fruit and veg.
CONNECT FOUR The raised beds in the back garden are closely planted with fruit and flowers for maximum impact. The blackberry ‘Oregon Thornless’ is prolific. Shrubs such as Sambucus nigra add height, and acid-green Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii is an eye-catching contrast.
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‘In designing the garden, I left out what to me were all the boring bits’
LET THERE BE LIGHT The master bedroom has doors that lead out to the limestone-paved lower terrace - a secluded, peaceful space. This bench stands by a contemporary pool, which has a soothing fountain feeding in from above.
DOWN A LEVEL Steps lead down from the main garden to the lower terrace. Three tons of bomb-damage contaminated soil were removed to create this level. The tree fern, Dicksonia antarctica, is so happy in this situation that it has retained all its leaves. ‘It’s gone mad,’ says Deborah.
ALL IN A ROW Herbs and perennials such as Dierama pulcherrimum and agapanthus fill a stainless-steel planter that edges the decking and the steps down to the lower terrace.
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WATCH THE BIRDIE Chinese ceramic bird feeders hang from the twisted lengths of rusted rebar. A gift from Regent St shop Esprit, they are a tongue-in-cheek element, as Deborah is yet to see a real bird anywhere near them.
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MAKING AN ENTRANCE The front garden is bisected by a Yorkstone path that leads from the gate to the front door. On the righthand side, mounds of box mingle with calamagrostis, acanthus, forget-me-nots, aquilegias and climbing Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris. The chimney pot was surplus to requirements on a renovation project.
CHARMING AND TASTY Vegetables in the raised beds are chosen for their colour as well as their taste. Here ruby chard has been planted with lettuce, spinach and onions. Against the fence, clumps of eragrostis grasses break up the strong parallel lines of the wrought-iron boundary.
ON THE BUSES All the raised beds have been painted black apart from this one, which is bright red in homage to the buses which pass by. Deborah frequently leaves veg to flower, and uses the oft-overlooked blooms in cut flower displays in the house. These striking red wooden obelisks were inspired by a visit she paid to an American garden, and were made and painted by Deborah and her husband.
private view
‘I wanted a mix of flowers, fruit and vegetables, so that there was a lot going on in the garden’
KEEPING IN ZINC The striking purple tulips in matching zinc planters on either side of the front path offer a strong accent colour in spring. They are joined by heuchera, erigeron and aquilegia. The tree is a mislabelled nectarine that was bought as a peach. The fruit makes excellent jam.
DESIGNER PROFILE Deborah Nagan started Uncommon, a design-led landscape consultancy, in May 2012. She has previously worked at EDAW and with Martha Schwartz Partners. She takes on some private garden commissions, but really enjoys more complicated or unusual schemes, and those that have a strong architectural or contemporary element. Current projects include a resort in Fez, public realm improvements in Waterloo and a commemorative Flood Garden in St Flavié, Quebec. ◆
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