Clients’ Brief
A roof garden planted up in a blend of Mediterranean and English Cottage Garden Styles sounds like a conflicting brief on first hearing. But with a bit of ingenuity and creativity, the result was one with which the client was very pleased.
Although there was a lift up to the penthouse apartment, there was then a further, spiral staircase in order to gain access to the roof garden. And no economical means of accessing by crane or similar external methods.
Planters
As all the plants were to grow in containers and not in the ground (no soil or borders!) this meant that the choice of planters was a careful balance between the various requirements.
Large planters were needed to reduce watering as it was not possible to fit an automatic system, so a watering can would have to be carried up the spiral stairs. The area is open to the sky, obviously, as it is a roof garden, but the high walls do reduce the amount of rainwater that falls onto the soil. This also meant that although we considered installing a water butt, the best place for it prevented the client actually using the space.
We chose Chelsea style planters as ticking the most boxes for the client and for practicality. By ringing the changes with size, shape and colour we generated visual interest without making the finished effect too ‘busy’, as although it is a good size for a roof garden, the focus is very much within the space.
Plants
The shrubs were a mix of Mediterranean favourites and traditional English Cottage Garden ones, including English Lavender, shrubby Salvia, Roses and Oleander. A Lemon tree and an Olive tree along with culinary herbs for cooking made sure this was both an ornamental and an edible garden.
With a combination of shrubs, herbs and herbaceous perennials, there are flowers virtually year round – great for pollinating insects and providing scent for our client too. As the selection includes evergreens, there is something to look at during the winter, and on warm days the roof garden is sufficiently sheltered to provide a pleasant place to sit with a coffee.
Post Project Services
A discounted lesson on maintaining the new plants is always offered as part of the Plews planting design and garden design services. This was taken up with pruning and propagation by taking cuttings being taught.
A three month plant health check and an Anniversary Visit are included as well as care notes left and support (if needed) for the first year.
