Front Entrance
We wanted the entrance to our home to provide a glimpse of what our house and garden is all about. The front path is flanked by drystone retaining walls on each side which Jeremy built in the Summer of 2025-26.
A mature crabapple takes centre stage in a square bed with hellebores, fritillaria and ajuga growing in its dappled shade. A large L-shaped bed helps to soften the rammed earthen walls with a fairy magnolia hedge acting as the backdrop to hydrangeas, hebes and liliums. Prostrate rosemary cascades down the sides of each wall providing a beautiful flow and plenty of food for the bees.
The front door is painted in a soft pinkish red which is echoed by the centrepiece of the potager. Vintage aged bronze hardware and a beautiful Argentine shield gives a hint of the eclectic and artistic character of our home.
The beginnings of the new entrance - it's feeling pretty good right about now.
When we designed the fence to Beatrice's Garden we wanted to provide a sweet little path that visitors could look down as they walked toward the front door.
The amazing artistry of Jeremy's drystone wall. The pressure was on for Venetia to live up to his contribution and ensure the planting design was just as powerful.
Glorious.
Almost finished the retaining wall of the large L-shaped bed and the very beginnings of the crabapple wall.
The crabapple tree was a lovely addition the previous owners had planted with lots of potential to tackle the under plantings and provide some more cohesion and structure.
Springtime growth provided the perfect cover for the rubble that was holding the soil in place.
A little moment of colour with the vivid green of the euphorbia and the orange African daisies.
Dappled shade in the middle of Summer. A gift for us as we considered our shade loving plant choices for the new beds.
Our two magnolias will be very happy in their new location once those garden beds are built.
The mess that was the crabapple bed - a tangle of lemon balm, poppies, a few crowded out hellebores and the odd blackberry. Potential for sure.
It really felt quite unkempt and half considered. Onward and upward.
Just one of a number of stone deliveries. 18 cubic meters all told.