The rear garden of a Grade 2 listed Georgian townhouse in North London, Canonbury, N1.
Located in the heart of the Canonbury Conservation Area, the garden was designed for a professional couple with a keen interest in gardening. The unusually shaped rear garden is enclosed by the house and old brick walls on all sides and features both a lower and upper terrace. The planting is a rich palette of colour and texture, responding with affection to the heritage of the house.
Vande Mortal brick paving in a Californian basket weave pattern in the lower terrace steps up into a raised terrace of reclaimed York-stone, with aligning walls made of reclaimed London Stock bricks. This area offers up a space for both lounging and dining. Terracotta pots allow for extended seasons of interest in the planting. The iconic green Palissade table and bench designed by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec is accompanied by a 213 XL wall hung Bernard-Albin Gras lamp by DCW editions.
Elsewhere, a sunken fish pond softly blends into the plant bed and adds an element of magic and tranquility to the garden, a mature Wisteria sinensis winds around the garden and a series of Trachelospermum jasminoides clothe the tall painted trellises and fill the garden with a rich jasmine scent in the height of summer. Overshadowed by these tall walls, trellis and a series of mature Plane trees in the neighbouring gardens, the garden is quite shady, so part of the brief was to bring light and colour to the space. Key to delivering this is a series of large Fuchsia magellanica giving highlights of red, groupings of Iris Tropic of Night that offer pops of purple and swathes of Bistorta amplexicaulis 'Blackfield' in complimentary tones of maroon.
Photos by Rachel Warne
