The Cheshire Garden Shortlisted for Designer of the Year Award
December 6, 2019 - Author: Ann Cooke
The Cheshire Garden is delighted to have been shortlisted for the prestigious Association of Professional Landscapers Awards 2020 in the category of Designer of the Year. The design which has captured the imagination of the judges is the Georgian Cottage Courtyard. This small urban garden is a project of which we are particularly proud. The scheme transformed a rather gloomy, concreted yard into a beautiful oasis at the heart of the city. The design needed to make effective of use of a restricted and challenging space to provide an attractive garden, whether for a quiet moment or entertaining friends, while also accommodating practical requirements such as parking and refuse facilities.
The clients for this project were looking for a complete transformation of the gloomy, concreted courtyard to the rear of their Georgian cottage into an oasis in the city. The design needed to deliver an outdoor space which would be both attractive and functional, all within a restricted footprint.
The challenge was to provide a beautiful view from the kitchen window and a seating area which could be enjoyed at any time, while also accommodating a small car and utilities such as recycling bins. The clients wanted a versatile space which could be used for entertaining and also wished to keep maintenance to a minimum. The overall appearance of the garden needed to be consistent with the neighbouring listed buildings and conservation area.
The Cheshire Garden was approached by the clients for this project after they had an extension completed on their house. The extension had encroached on an existing patio and had an overhang which made it quite a dominant feature. The clients were looking for a complete redesign of their outdoor space to complement the expanded footprint of their home. In addition to the impact of the new extension, the garden was also overlooked by an adjacent property. The clients wanted a garden which provided a variety of different spaces where they could enjoy sitting in the sunshine throughout the day, and which they could use for entertaining friends and family. As keen gardeners they had a number of existing Acer and shrubs they wished to retain in the new planting scheme.
The Cheshire Garden was commissioned to develop a design for a small courtyard area immediately adjacent to the client’s house. The area adjoins the kitchen and a conservatory but was dark and damp and as a consequence an under used space within a larger cottage garden. The clients wanted the courtyard to provide an extension to their living space which they could use both as an outdoor room and as an attractive vista to enjoy from the warmth of their home during the winter months. Existing garden furniture and a contemporary water feature which had become lost amongst a jungle of overgrown shrubs at the end of the courtyard were to be incorporated into a modern design. The area was also used to provide an outdoor area for the client’s small dog – an expert escape artist! – and so needed to be contained. Read more…
RHS Flower Show Tatton Park ‘Remember Me’ Dementia Garden
October 19, 2018 - Author: Garden_Designer
Design Brief
The Mid Cheshire Hospitals Charity launched their ‘Everybody Knows Somebody’ Dementia Appeal in 2017 to raise £1.5 million to enhance the dementia and cognitive impairment facilities at Leighton Hospital in Crewe. In support of this appeal, The Cheshire Garden collaborated with the Charity, designing a scheme for the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park to raise awareness of dementia and its impact on the people of Cheshire. The finished scheme was awarded one of only three highly coveted spots in the Future Spaces category at the show which focusses on innovative approaches to developing outdoor spaces to meet contemporary and future needs. Read more…
“We spend more time out here than we ever did before. Every time we come out there’s a different plant that’s come out or flower. It’s just wonderful, absolutely lovely.”
Design brief
The clients work from home and wanted a beautiful English garden, full of flowers, that they could take a break in at different times of the day and enjoy from their conservatory when the weather is cooler. Read more…
Room of Inklings construction with Greenbelt Landscapes in Cheshire on Wednesday 31st May 2017.
Today was the start of the construction of the ‘Room of Inklings’, which has been created by Wendy Connelly of RAW-i Studios.
On a fine Summer’s day our talented landscaper Matt was busy cutting the timber while we checked out logistics for deliveries into Tatton for the build-up to the main event.
A run down from the day:
• Unusual shapes required precision measurements and angles in order to cut the timber to size;
• Template created so that each of the posts are cut correctly – particularly love the effect of the grain in the timber;
• The timber proved a challenge because it was live and moving. We did, however, achieve the authentic reclaimed look we were after, so we’re all happy;
• One of the wall panels was successfully installed in the background producing a beautiful canvas of waney and rustic wood with a ‘live’ edge.
• We still can’t quite believe that, in just two weeks, the whole structure will have been built. Finally, we’ll check that it all fits together as designed and then all that’s left to do is add the final finishing touches and voilà!
The Cheshire Garden was commissioned to develop a design for a small courtyard area immediately adjacent to the client’s house. The area adjoins the kitchen and a conservatory but was dark and damp and as a consequence an under used space within a larger cottage garden. The clients wanted the courtyard to provide an extension to their living space which they could use both as an outdoor room and as an attractive vista to enjoy from the warmth of their home during the winter months. Existing garden furniture and a contemporary water feature which had become lost amongst a jungle of overgrown shrubs at the end of the courtyard were to be incorporated into a modern design. The area was also used to provide an outdoor area for the client’s small dog – an expert escape artist! – and so needed to be contained. 
Room of Inklings construction with Greenbelt Landscapes in Cheshire on Wednesday 31st May 2017.