Earlier this year, we were asked to supply a large number of shrubs and perennials via our customer and garden designer Andi Herrick of Herrick Garden Designs to help completely beautify the grounds of a newly renovated and remodelled 1920s property.
Andi was challenged with a full garden design after the 1920s property in Sheffield had a complete renovation and remodelling with multiple extensions (designed by Edge Architecture & Design and built by Whitshaw Builders Ltd). The property’s renovation included a new open plan kitchen, lounge and diner with full height glazed windows and doors which offer views across the garden and beyond. With this in mind, Andi needed to create a garden design with year-round interest planting so that the garden could be enjoyed through every season.
As with many houses in Sheffield, the property sits on a hillside and the garden falls steeply away from the house. It was important for Andi to find a solution that linked the rear of the house, which is at a much higher level, with the garden and create flat, useable and attractive outdoor ‘rooms’ and circulation space.
Over 600 shrubs, herbaceous and hedging plants were supplied by Johnsons which were used in three distinctive planting areas to reflect the different environmental conditions, sunlight levels, and the garden’s function.
A new boundary hedge of Prunus Lusitanica (Portuguese Laurel) was planted in the north-facing front garden.
A beautiful multi-stem Betulua Jacquemonti (Silver Birch) is a key focal point to the front garden. Shade-tolerant plant varieties such as Lamium maculatum, Euphorbia, Geraniums, Ferns, Japanese Anenome and Hostas provide year-round foliage with splashes of soft pinks, mauves and white flowers.
Planting to the property’s side elevation, which includes a large picture window facing the property boundary, aims to provide a tranquil and fresh colour palette of green and white, with much of the planting using evergreen varieties. Shrubs include Buxus balls, Hebe, Choisya, and Hydrangea, planted with Heuchera Lime Marmalade, Bergenia Bressingham White, and Hackonachloa macra, which when full size will add a soft carpet of grass around the edges of the beds. A large planted trough was added within the nook of the rendered wall, with decorative metalwork commissioned from a local Sheffield artisan completed the look.
The planting for the south-facing main patio and entertainment space uses Buxus Balls and Hebes to give evergreen structure, with herbaceous perennials and grasses, including Nepeta, Salvia, Lavender, Persicaria, Agastache, Veronicastrum, Pennisetum and Calamagrostis, providing a layered and colourful palette of pinks, purples and whites. Plants spillover from the beds and troughs, providing a soft edge to the hard landscaping.
100s of bulbs have also been planted, including Snowdrops, Tulips and Alliums, to provide additional interest and colour from early spring into summer and the garden includes lighting throughout, so that it can still be enjoyed and appreciated late into the evenings.
Andi Herrick Director at Herrick Garden Designs said: “I feel very fortunate to have been asked to work on this project during my early days starting a new career in garden design. My client has allowed me complete freedom of design and plant selection and has fully supported my ideas and approach to creating this garden. I am thrilled with the results and I have been commissioned to continue with my work in other areas of the garden.
I have received excellent customer service and good quality plants from Johnsons for this and other projects and will continue to make Johnsons my no. 1 supplier.”
Andi’s customer’s response to the project: “We have recently carried out a large-scale house renovation and one of the key features are large windows and sliding doors throughout providing great views of the garden and surrounding landscape.
We engaged Andi to design and implement landscaping schemes for 3 sides of the house which were mostly builders’ rubble and mud following the renovation.
The brief was to soften the look of the house from the outside and to provide beautiful and interesting all year views from the inside.
We discussed colour schemes and the overall look we wanted and then left Andi to create the different areas.
We are delighted with the result, the different areas created are beautiful and interesting individually and flow throughout the garden.
Andi understood what we wanted and produced a fantastic result; the planting works perfectly when outside enjoying the garden or inside looking out and house and patio areas have a much softer look enhancing the overall project.
All the plants used are of high quality and have grown and matured really well in the 8 months since planting started.”
