The term walled garden has a very romantic appeal… in the country. In town, it rings like a nightmare. Feeling boxed in is a real no no, especially when you have limited space. And a lack of light will take away any pleasure from using the space.

That is why I found this design, created by Maria Örnberg and Gavin Goldwyer of Greenlines Home & Garden Ltd, brilliant.

They have also mastered the art of going minimalist without transforming the space into a clinically perfect magazine showroom. By the way, she refers to planters by Urbis, a UK-based studio offering very beautiful pots, planters and benches in variations of concrete. Definitely look them up.

From the designers:

The client was looking for a low maintenance, elegant treatment of the space delivering stunning all season views from bedroom and lounge, whilst improving privacy from the surrounding tower blocks.

The Challenges
We had a very major need to mitigate the enormous imposition of the 5-metre high walls surrounding this basement garden whilst retaining light.

Greenlines Home & Garden’s Solution
The lounge-view feature wall was clad in slate, with Urbis planters introducing a stylish architectural strength between espaliered prunus.

We decided on a vertical garden for the bedroom view. A monoculture planting of liriope gives the effect of a green waterfall, especially with the wind howling.

Western Red Cedar trellising provides the vital screening atop the wall. Our interest with this design was in the juxtaposition between vertical and horizontal, expressed in liriope, slate and Balau hardwood evident in both aspects.

The planting palette is restricted to five genera, lending a calming, restive continuity to the garden. We added two Acers with a view to creating seasonal interest, with the repetition of the ‘Oshikanawa’ enhancing formality.

The garden is strongly under lit to emphasizing both mass and architectural strengths.

What the garden looked like before: