The long, narrow garden behind a terraced house is one of London's great design challenges. It is overlooked from both sides, often shaded at one end and seen in full from the upstairs windows. Town garden design is about making that shape work for the way you live.
Breaking up the long, thin plot
Left as a lawn with borders down each side, a town garden looks like a corridor. Dividing it into a sequence of spaces makes it feel wider and gives a reason to walk to the end. A terrace by the house for eating, a planted middle section, and a quiet seat or studio at the far end is a pattern that works for many homes.
- Turn the path or the paving at an angle to widen the view.
- Use hedges, pleached trees or a screen of planting to hide part of the garden from the house so it can be discovered.
- Place the best seat where the evening sun lands, which is often not next to the back door.
Privacy without losing light
Neighbours' windows are the most common complaint in a town garden. Tall fences make the space darker and smaller. Instead we use the canopies of small trees, such as multi-stemmed amelanchier, field maple or crab apple, to screen sightlines from above while leaving the light at ground level. Pergolas planted with climbers do the same job over a seating area.
Planting for a view from the window
Town gardens are looked at far more than they are used, especially in winter. We plan the planting as a picture from the main windows: evergreen structure in clipped shapes, grasses that hold their form into winter, bulbs for early spring and a long run of perennials from May to October.
Working with period houses
Victorian and Edwardian houses have their own language of brick, stone and iron. We choose materials that sit comfortably alongside them: reclaimed London stock, York stone, clay pavers, or a crisp contemporary contrast where the architecture invites it, as with a modern rear extension.
Front gardens
A front garden is the first thing visitors see. Even a tiny one can hold a pair of clipped evergreens, a scented climber by the door and room for bins and bikes hidden from view.
