Gravel garden

The owner of this small back garden in south London, wanted to be reminded of holidays in the south of France. She loved Mediterranean plants and wanted a place to sit and eat outdoors with some privacy from adjacent houses. The sunny aspect was perfect for this brief and a 'dry garden' with drought-tolerant planting was planned.  The borders were mulched with weed-suppressing sandy-coloured gravel to keep maintenance to a minimum. Self-binding gravel was used to form the small courtyard, with planting dotted within for an informal look.  A bespoke oak bench was designed to sit in a recess in the hornbeam hedge, for a sense of enclosure. In one corner, a recessed stone pond with a discrete bubbling fountain created a gentle burble to mask the noise of nearby traffic.  A new south-west-facing fence gave the opportunity to mount espaliered fruit trees behind the perennial planting.