Understanding materials

Understanding Materials

The materials used in a garden are key to creating an atmosphere. With a core key principles in mind, you'll feel confident in choosing materials that will make for an effective, sympathetic design.

Simplicity is key in all aspects of designing a small garden

• Limiting your palette of hard materials is vital in every garden, but especially a small space.

Use a maximum of three different materials. I have three go-to materials – brick, stone and wood – which are a great combination.

• If using brick, choose it to tone with your house or surroundings.
• Take inspiration from local materials – look at what the vernacular is.

Choose timeless materials

• I tend to avoid many contemporary man-made materials in case they become dated.
• It's safer to choose natural materials such as stone, brick, wood from a certified source.

Stone

How stone is finished is important as well as its colour, as this affects the mood.

• Tumbled stone has weathered edges for a soft, subdued feel.
• Sawn stone has clean, straight edges and a smooth surface – great for a contemporary look.
• Riven stone is great for non-slip as the surface has natural strata.

Stone

I love using oak for pergolas.

• New oak will shrink and expand with weather – don't worry about this.
• It may also leach tannin so make sure it's been stored offsite for a few months first.

Brick

Brick depends on location but red brick, oak and York stone or sandstone is a great combination.

• Stone can come in any colour from cream to camel to almost grey.
• As well as paths, brick can be used for retaining walls, e.g. raised flowerbeds 30cm high, or as a detail to break up a big expanse of stone paving.

Boundaries

There are loads of materials to choose from for boundaries.

• These can be natural, e.g. hedges or pleached trees. Pleached trees are used a lot, especially in small urban gardens, as they create privacy and are elegant.
• A fence can be clothed with climbers growing up wires to make it less dominant, or you can put panels of trellis on top of the fence (check height allowed by council regulation).
• Both pleached trees and trellis create a boundary while letting in some light.
• Brick wall is classic; much more expensive than a fence but if you're lucky you might have inherited a bit of brick wall – if you have, then celebrate it.

Other hard surfaces

• As well as paving, consider looser surfaces to help water drainage, such as gravel.
• Keep gravel away from thresholds; put stone for that last couple of feet in front of the door to prevent gravel coming in.
• Decking is great for negotiating uneven levels outside the house.
• Like all hard surfaces, make sure it doesn't get slippery by cleaning it in winter.