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 Garden before construction

The centre-piece of this parterre garden was a  large and ugly fishpond, quite out of scale with  the size of the house. Fish had been eaten by passing herons and planting had become unruly. Advice was sought as to what plants could be grown, if the pond were emptied and the fish re-homed.

After much discussion it was agreed that the parterre would be retained but paved with something more befitting the house. A new focus of interest had to be found for the view from the main lounge. The clients felt they might never agree between themselves on a sculpture.

However, the suggestion of an armillary sun-dial was liked but thought a little archaic.

Gilly created a model of a sculpture which had elements of a sundial brought into the 21st century. After a week or two the clients requested one to be made from bronze.

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 Garden after construction

Arcangel Metalwork were asked to build Gilly’s design but the price of bronze proved to be exorbitant. Arcangel had a brainwave. They would build the globe from stainless steel, then carefully heat the metal.

Hey presto! our clients had their bronze ‘look’ at a more reasonable price.

Once the sculpture was decided, the design of interlocking circles within the paving fell easily into place. See-through planting was designed to grow through the globe’s rings as the year progressed. Spotlights were installed to up-light this central feature at night.

The borders of the parterre garden were planted for relatively low maintenance and year round colour and interest.