Tim told us this about his design:

The ‘before’ photo below shows the garden is in need of some work. The project was a terraced house in Peckham, London that was renovated with the kitchen extended over the side return and new bi-fold doors installed across the rear of the property. The brief was to create a contemporary low maintenance garden for entertaining and relaxation that would compliment the extension and new interior.

Peckham garden before fencing work began

Clean crisp lines were required and, as the garden was north facing, the design also needed to create a light, bright feel. There needed to be space for a table and seating, new boundary fencing on all sides for privacy, a shed screened from view, a small water feature, effective use of the change in level and ambient lighting for night time use.

The design solution was to split the garden into two levels to create two different seating areas separated by a low retaining wall, planting and a small bubble fountain water feature. The hard landscaping comprised silver grey granite paving on the lower terrace and sawn sandstone on the upper terrace to create a different feel to both areas. The light colour and consistent texture of both types of paving created a bright contemporary feel.

Contemporary Canterbury combi Fence panels in modern garden

As the garden was small it was important that the fencing looked stylish as well as providing privacy. The smart, modern look of Jacksons Canterbury Combi fence panels offered the perfect solution, as they have the lower two thirds of the panel made from solid timber vertical pales grooved together with the top third made from the same horizontal slats used in the Venetian fence panel, that was chosen to screen the shed.

Using good quality products like the granite paving and pressure treated fencing makes good sense. You want the garden to mature and stay looking good for a long time - the bonus is the Jacksons fencing will, it’s guaranteed for an amazing 25 years against rot.

The planting was designed to be low maintenance whilst providing plenty of seasonal colour and year round interest. The colour palette was restricted to blue, purple, pink, green and white.The hard landscaping was carried out by the client's own builders and the planting by myself.

Tim Mackley Garden Design