A Long Narrow Town Garden
By London garden designer Declan Buckley. The idea of stepping over a channel of water into an earthly paradise has persisted since the earliest gardens were created in the Middle East centuries ago.
26 Mar 2010 | 1 min read
In this London garden (on Engelfield Road, Islington) the pool has practical purposes too. Stretching almost the entire width of the 30m x 5m garden, it makes the long narrow plot appear wider, and divides the garden into separate areas with their own distinct character.
From a stone terrace, a simple gravel path leads to the far end of the garden, where a silvery astelia provides focus. Passing through the dense, dramatic planting in the foreground, stepping stones over the pool create a moment of calm, the surface broken only by a few water lilies.
A pair of tall metal planters frame and partially conceal the next area - an open, gravel surface seating area.
The hard landscaping is softened by bold structural and seasonal planting. The corners of the pond are anchored by Chinese privet trees (Ligustrum lucidum), whose evergreen canopies add height. In early autumn, tawny tufts of the plume poppy, Macleaya cordata glow bronze.
The evergreen leaves of Melianthus major can be seen beyond the metal planters. Agapanthus provide late-summer colour. Some of the foreground planting is cut back in late winter, carpets of spring flowering bulbs.
Plants list
Click any plant name to learn more about it and add to your own plants I want lists.
Aralia elata
Agapanthus Headbourne hybrids
Zantedeschia aethiopica 'Crowborough'
Acanthus mollis
Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'
Verbena bonariensis
Knautia macedonica
Macleaya cordata
Nectaroscordum siculum
Allium Purple Sensation
Melianthus major
Libertia formosa