The yard is the main view from inside the home, “and they wanted it to be lush and beautiful,” landscape designer Caroline Clayton says of the homeowners. And now? They love their reinvented space, which includes an expansive pond bursting with wildlife, Mediterranean-inspired colors and abundant plantings.
Viriditas Studio
Viriditas StudioThe new pond, seen here on the left, is now a major backyard feature and spans the full width of the space. This is made possible by the clever design that Clayton describes as a boardwalk — a plank bridge in warm-toned western red cedar that stretches from the patio to a seating area in the sunniest part of the yard at the far end. The steps are also topped in western red cedar, with risers in the same terra-cotta tiles as the patio and kitchen.
Large, honey-colored boulders replace the original retaining wall, both forming the pond and breaking up the level change. “In city [yards], especially, people don’t often think about places for wildlife to hide, and boulders create a brilliant space for small mammals, amphibians and insects,” Clayton says.
There is a low-water planting bed behind the boulders with free-draining soil. Clayton picked all the new plants to be drought tolerant and cleverly found ways to retain as much of the existing planting as possible.
Viriditas StudioHighlights include: a bee-friendly, pink-flowering ornamental oregano (Origanum laevigatum ‘Herrenhausen’, USDA zones 5 to 9; find your zone); a low-growing rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Prostratus’, zones 8 to 11); yellow-flowered yarrow (Achillea ‘Terracotta’, zones 3 to 8); thistle-like sea holly (Eryngium bourgatii, zones 5 to 8), and Latin American fleabane (Erigeron karvinskianus, Zone 6), which forms daisy-like flowers. “[Latin American] fleabanes are great filler plants and really help to pull a scheme together,” Clayton says. “They grow anywhere, bees love them and they flower nine months of the year, pretty much.”
Further back is purple-flowering ‘Rozanne’ cranesbill (Geranium ‘Rozanne’, zones 4 to 9) and Hart’s tongue fern (Asplenium scolopendrium, zones 5 to 9).
Amid the new foliage are existing shrubs and trees, including a large fig on the right and a Photinia that Clayton strategically reshaped. “The couple had quite a few large shrubs that were taking over the view and adding a lot of shade,” she says. “To be sustainable, we kept a lot of them but pruned them into multi-stems to make them lighter and also to let more daylight through. It’s nice, rather than just ripping everything out, and also gives you an opportunity to underplant them rather than just having dense shrubs,” the designer adds.
There was also an existing olive tree on the left. “The olive tree is massive,” Clayton says. “We love keeping bigger trees in the [landscape], and they give a sense of scale that helps to make a city garden feel more natural. I always think that going bigger with a couple of strong elements makes smaller spaces — weirdly — feel bigger.”
Viriditas Studio
Viriditas StudioIn this aerial shot you can see the pond more clearly. The bowl on the far left is a water feature filled with aquatic plants. “It helps with purification and circulation of the water in the pond — and makes a nice noise,” the designer adds. “I really love the sound of water in city gardens. It really takes you away from the hustle and bustle of city life.
“With ponds, you have to make sure there’s movement to the water and that you’ve included oxygenating plants, otherwise you end up with lots of algae,” she says. “A company called Ecoscape Water Gardens built and installed the pond. They also advised on the right planting balance to make it as easy as possible to maintain.”
The piece of wood coming out of the pond is to allow creatures to get in and out easily. The owners have reported dragonflies and frogs. “It’s amazing how creatures seek out even tiny bits of water,” Clayton says.
Viriditas StudioYou can just catch a glimpse of some moss too. Clayton loved being able to salvage plants from the existing landscape and took some moss from it to fill gaps between the boulders for a natural look.
Viriditas Studio“There was a lot of discussion about whether the ivy behind the fence should come down, but everyone decided it was an amazing wildlife habitat — and we also loved the green lushness of it,” Clayton says. The lighter bits you can see are the ivy flowers, which bees and other insects absolutely love.”
On the back fence is a climbing star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides, zones 8 to 10) This was another retained plant, and Clayton just added two more for balance.
As you can imagine, the owners are delighted with their own little Mediterranean patch in the city. (cited)
Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their son
Location: Clapton, east London
Size: About 776 square feet (72 square meters); 20 by 39 feet (6 by 12 meters)
Designers: Caroline Clayton (creative direction and planting plans) and brother Peter Clayton (project direction, management and lighting design) of Viriditas Studio
The owners of this Victorian house decided to renovate their kitchen and backyard at the same time. The homeowners had already chosen the terra-cotta floor tiles for the kitchen when the landscape team came on board, which influenced the outdoor design.
The tiles are suitable for indoor and outdoor use, so Clayton continued the flooring onto the patio, creating a strong visual flow between the kitchen and the outdoors. “That was a starting point for the earthy colors,” she says. “We thought we’d try to match the boulders and the wood as well.” The family loves vacationing on Ibiza, in Spain, “and we wanted something very warm,” she says.
Floor and patio tiles: Bert & May