Contemporary garden in Walton designed by Cherry Mills

Mediterranean Style Garden, Walton, Surrey

Our client had recently bought this property and was just completing major renovation work to provide a stylish, Mediterranean beach themed interior. He wished to extend this style into the garden. The existing garden was an awkward shape and looked old fashioned and tired.

Our geometric design incorporates light grey coloured contemporary porcelain paving and two pale grey composite decking seating areas. The second deck has a built in L shaped decking seat and a gas fire pit for those chilly evenings. At the far end of the garden, a clear sphere shaped water feature was included, as a focal point which can be viewed through the new bi-fold doors of the house. The garden faces south and is very sunny so a removeable shade sail was fixed over the main deck. The second deck has a retractable canopy as part of the metal pergola. The layout of the garden was designed around our client’s new garden furniture and an existing barbecue. To this we added an exciting range of colourful water proof cushions and a rug. All made from recycled plastic bottles. Existing and new fencing around the boundary were all painted dark grey to help blend the old and the new materials.

The planting is in tones of blue and grey, incorporating Festuca glauca grass, Lavender and Nepeta. Pale white pebbles provide a mulch in the lower areas and enhance the Beach theme. Pleached Hornbeam hedging was added to give privacy above fence height.

BROWSE THE FINISHED GARDEN

TESTIMONIAL

"The garden was an unremarkable 60’s/70’s garden that had a lot of mature specimens, a number of which had severely overgrown their original space in the garden and a as result the garden felt smaller than it should have done. There was little useable patio space on the multi-coloured “crazy paving” and until recently some old fashioned sliding patio doors. The net result was that even though the garden was south-west-facing, you never really wanted to go out into the garden and there was nowhere to “go out to...”

I had selected Cherry specifically because I had reviewed her portfolio and felt that in terms of her creative style, she had experience and a degree of empathy with the styling queue I was trying to use. The sourcing of various sample materials was a lengthy process with a number of fire rations but was essential to arrive at a combination of materials, colours and finishes that worked well together. Cherry sourced the fire pit, the bespoke pergola and led us to Weaver Green for the outdoor cushions...all elements of the final design which we are extremely pleased with.

It was tendered by Cherry and although we ended up going with the more expensive end of the spectrum, we were very happy with the attitude of the landscapers and the final build quality. There were challenges in the build phase ranging from appalling weather, supply chain issues for niche products such as the Australian “shade sail” and sourcing the fire pit from a manufacturer based in Vancouver. Cherry was always on hand when needed and willing to talk through how best to deal/ respond to some of the challenges that were outside our control.

We were fortunate enough to complete our garden just as the first COVID lockdown hit at the end of March. Considering the constraints of 2020, our garden has been a godsend and the transformation has been life changing. Cherry has successfully integrated elements of the French Mediterranean, elements of Versailles style formality and has been able to create a series of “living spaces” outside which absolutely draw you out into the garden and which make you feel as if you are “on holiday”. There is not a day that goes by where I do not get pleasure just from looking at or being out in the garden. It has changed my family’s experience of “living”...

I would not hesitate in highly recommending Cherry for anyone who is looking to undertake a transformation of their outdoor space and who is prepared to invest both their time and money necessary to achieve it."

Mr K.S., Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, 2020