For this project at Wiston, West Sussex, we were delighted to be given the opportunity to create a number of garden areas, culminating in a beautiful landscape to compliment the stunning house. Extensive landscaping with a mix of hard and soft scaping, beautiful and extensive lawned areas, joined with locally sourced aggregate driveways link the gardens to the wider context sympathetically. A degree of separation and delineation is offered by cleft post and rail fencing, with sensitive hedging and planting at its base.

The stone walling not only looks good, but is a haven for wildlife too. The formal layout of the gardens lends itself to a bygone era of Victorian stature, with box hedging and low-lying planting complimented by brick and tile paving. The paving leads to secluded rest areas, some covered by soft vines and bounded by brick piers and timber framed pergolas. Adding to the sense of timelessness is the material palette, utilising reclaimed materials throughout the gardens, including stone, brick and tile. Untreated oak timbers have silvered beautifully with age, and only enhances what is already a beautifully mature garden.

Away from the house, a new pond sits under the trees, a thriving habitat for birds and wildlife. Besides this is a timber deck which juts over the waters edge. We also did much of the ironwork with some of the gates and garden ornamentation, including the cattle-grid at the entrance to stop the wild deer from entering. This is one of our favourite and hugely successful projects.