Portfolio

East Suffolk garden

Naturalistic landscape around converted barns

This design makes the most of the old agricultural yard surrounding beautifully converted residential barns, set in the idyllic east Suffolk countryside.

Hard and soft materials are carefully chosen to sensitively integrate the garden with the character of the barns and the local landscape setting.

Care is taken to ensure the garden design feels harmonious with this beautiful place, while delivering the practicality and outdoor living spaces our clients need.

Colm Joseph suffolk walled garden converted barn modern home naturalistic planting design wildflowers beech hedge multi-stem crabapple tree

Colm Joseph suffolk garden naturalistic planting design wildflower meadow beech hedge multi-stem crabapple trees seating area limestone pavers

Colm Joseph suffolk garden naturalistic planting design wildflower meadow multi-stem crabapple trees gravel paths seating area

Spaces are carefully shaped with clipped beech hedges and multi-stem trees, providing distinct but visually unified spaces around the garden.

On arrival, a minimalist arrangement of ornamental grass planting, clipped beech hedges, and a feature tree (a multi-stem acer campestre) creates a striking composition that simultaneously provides an inviting welcome and privacy for the rest of the garden.

Curved pathways lead through this arrival space into areas of naturalistic perennial planting and wildflower meadow beyond.

Colm Joseph suffolk garden design converted barn modern home entrance multi-stem acer campestre minimalist beech hedges ornamental grass planting sesleria wildflowers

Colm Joseph suffolk garden design minimalist beech hedges ornamental grass planting sesleria wildflowers multi-stem crabapple trees gravel paths landscape view

Colm Joseph east suffolk garden barn beech hedges gravel limestone paths wildflower meadow

Colm Joseph east suffolk garden beech hedges gravel limestone paths wildflower meadow crabapple tree

Colm Joseph east suffolk garden beech hedges gravel limestone paths wildflower meadow landscape acer campestre crabapple trees

Colm Joseph suffolk garden design minimalist beech hedges ornamental grass planting sesleria wildflowers multi-stem crabapple trees old boundary wall landscape view

Sweeping, curving pathways lead through the garden, connecting various destination points and seating areas.

Naturalistic planting design flows throughout the garden, set a restrained hardscape of limestone pavers and gravel. This palette sits harmoniously with the beautiful agricultural, rural materiality of the barns, old garden walls and Suffolk landscape setting.

Perennial planting areas wrap around main seating areas, while expanses of wildflower meadow feature an inviting firepit seating spot in the sun.

Colm Joseph suffolk walled garden naturalistic design wildflower meadow corten firepit seating area landscape

Colm Joseph suffolk garden naturalistic design wildflower meadow corten firepit seating area gravel path multi-stem crabapple malus wintergold

Colm Joseph suffolk landscape garden naturalistic planting design wildflower meadow multi-stem crabapple tree malus wintergold

Colm Joseph suffolk garden naturalistic planting design wildflower meadow multi-stem crabapple tree gravel path

Colm Joseph suffolk garden naturalistic planting design wildflower meadow multi-stem crabapple trees seating area limestone pavers gravel

Colm Joseph east suffolk garden converted barn perennial planting seating area crabapple tree

Main seating areas of limestone pavers are set within planting areas, framed and sheltered by multi-stem trees and hedging.

The position of destination points and the flowing, curvilinear pathways creates a sense of discovery and reveal as you move through the garden.

The layered planting design offers interest all year round, from flowering displays of spring bulbs, through the lushness of summer growth, to changing autumnal hues and winter structure.

Colm Joseph suffolk garden converted barn modern home naturalistic planting design wildflower meadow beech hedge multi-stem crabapple trees seating area gravel paths

Colm Joseph suffolk walled garden naturalistic planting design wildflower meadow beech hedge multi-stem crabapple trees landscape view

Colm Joseph suffolk garden design multi-stem crabapple trees malus wintergold limestone pavers gravel naturalistic planting

Colm Joseph suffolk garden design seating area multi-stem crabapple trees malus wintergold limestone pavers gravel naturalistic planting

Colm Joseph suffolk garden naturalistic planting design digitalis ferruginea sesleria beech hedge

This old agricultural yard benefits from characterful old walls. In the most secluded part of garden an intimate walled gravel garden is created.

The language of loose naturalistic planting, multi-stem feature crabapple trees, structural beech hedging, and hardscape materiality continue here.

The planting palette itself subtly varies from elsewhere in the garden, to give this gravel garden its own character while still feeling unified and coherent with the wider scheme.

Colm Joseph suffolk gravel garden multi-stem crabapple malus tree limestone pavers gravel old garden wall gate naturalistic planting design

Colm Joseph suffolk walled garden gravel limestone pavers naturalistic planting erigeron salvia amistad sesleria thymus pinus mugo dianthus carthusionorum

Colm Joseph suffolk gravel garden design multi-stem crabapple malus tree limestone gravel old garden wall naturalistic planting

Colm Joseph suffolk garden design limestone pavers naturalistic planting erigeron sesleria thymus pinus mugo dianthus carthusionorum

Colm Joseph suffolk garden design limestone pavers naturalistic planting erigeron sesleria thymus

Colm Joseph suffolk garden naturalistic planting design limestone pavers furniture osmanthus multi-stem tree old wall

Colm Joseph suffolk gravel garden design limestone naturalistic planting erigeron sesleria thymus pinus mugo dianthus carthusionorum

Throughout the garden, views are framed and composed, including from inside the house to the garden, with thought given to the daily experience of living in and moving through the design.

Materials are kept simple but considered, including the re-use of old agricultural features, such as the conversion of the old sheep dip trough into a water feature.

The garden design celebrates the character of the agricultural architecture and bucolic Suffolk countryside, and the client's day-to-day experience of living in this place.