The client wanted a topiary garden that would structure their large, half-acre site. The garden already contained an ancient orchard and large expanse of lawn so the interventions needed to weave in seamlessly.

I began conceptually, by looking at Tudor knot-work parterres as a reference which would complement the client’s 16th Century Farmhouse. I exaggerated their lattice structure to extend over the whole garden, then loosened its form, creating unique spaces that enclose, reveal and frame specimen topiary, or pockets of planting. In place of the low clipped box of Tudor knot-gardens I would use cloud-pruned yew hedging, a mainstay of historic English country gardens, which would give sculptural form to the garden.

In the front garden, pleached crab apple trees act as a lattice screen in vertical, offering protection from the road - a beautiful veil of blossom in Spring and fruit in Autumn.