New planting and framework in a sheltered courtyard

This sheltered courtyard needed brightening up with a planting scheme to bring low maintenance, quick coverage to the borders. With two small children, the owners have little time to spend on maintenance and wanted to enjoy the garden without fuss.

The left hand side was dominated by a wisteria which had been allowed to get very big and sprawling and was bringing the fence down in places. We agreed to have a new sturdy fence installed, with the wisteria hard-pruned, and also recommended adding trellis to the rear wall to act as a framework for the existing bamboo and planned climbers.

The bulky pyracantha to the right, while spectacular in autumn and winter, was also too big and we thinned and pruned it dramatically before retying it in and giving it additional support. We also raised the canopy, removing all the lowest branches so that the bright berries were out of the reach of small toddler fingers.

New planting included two Acer palmatum for colour and shape at a manageable size and Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Golf Ball’ and Nandina domestica bringing neat shapes and year round colour to the beds. Climbers included Clematis – a favourite with the client – with C. ‘Early Sensation’ against the rear wall and C. jackmanii ‘Superba’ climbing along the left hand side inf ront of the wisteria. Also, Rosa ‘White Star’ and Trachelospermum jasminoides make good use of the newly-built trellises, with Hydrangea seemannii chosen for the shady spot behind the Wendy House.