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Suffolk walled garden

An imaginative walled garden in East Suffolk

Located in the 'Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty', this modern home is nestled within an old walled garden.

A bold and imaginative garden design creates a series of immersive, interconnected garden spaces inspired by the surrounding landscape and heritage of this historic walled garden site.

Colm Joseph garden design Suffolk gravel gardens birch trees clay pavers sesleria autumnalis cenolophium euphorbia allium atropurpureum

Colm Joseph suffolk walled garden design old brick wall gravel gardens paths multi-stem birch trees naturalistic planting grasses allium stipa gigantea stachys euphorbia

Colm Joseph Suffolk gravel garden design birch trees clay pavers sesleria cenolophium euphorbia allium atropurpureum

Colm Joseph suffolk walled garden design seating area clay pavers hay pallisade furniture phlomis tuberosa amazone allium atropurpureum cenolophium denudatum euphorbia schillingii sesleria autumnalis naturalistic planting

Colm Joseph suffolk walled garden design multi-stem birch tree betula jacquemontii allium atropurpureum cenolophium denudatum dwarf pine pinus mugo sesleria autumnalis calamagrostis naturalistic planting old brick wall

Hedging is used to partition the garden, with meandering gravel pathways linking the distinct spaces.

To the front of the house is a bold, minimalist composition of clipped beech cylinder hedges and ornamental grasses.

This transitions into a naturalistic gravel garden where the main seating areas are surrounded by planting of birch trees, pines, grasses, and flowering perennials.

The pathway then leads through a beautiful wildflower meadow to a relaxed kitchen garden.

Colm Joseph suffolk walled garden design gravel paths birch trees dwarf pines euphorbia schillingii libertia fennel

Colm Joseph suffolk walled garden design seating area clay pavers hay pallisade furniture multi-stem birch tree cenolophium denudatum dwarf pine pinus mugo sesleria autumnalis naturalistic planting

Colm Joseph suffolk gravel garden design old brick wall modern planting birch trees dwarf pines stachys euphorbia grasses

Colm Joseph suffolk garden design old brick wall gravel gardens paths birch trees grasses allium stipa gigantea

Colm Joseph suffolk garden design old brick wall gravel gardens paths birch trees grasses dwarf pines allium euphorbia

Colm Joseph suffolk garden design gravel gardens paths view birch trees beech hedge calamagrostis karl foerster grasses

Birch, beech and pines combine to connect the garden with the character of the local landscape

Colm Joseph suffolk garden design gravel gardens paths birch trees clay pavers phlomis amazone allium atropurpureum

Trees and hedging partially conceal and reveal views, with the curvilinear pathways drawing you through the space.

The old brick wall is left clear and unobscured, allowing it to be highlighted, framed and softened by the naturalistic planting.

The restrained palette of hard materials – of clay pavers, gravel and timber – ties in with both the old walls and the modern architecture to create a unified, harmonious feel.

Colm Joseph suffolk walled garden design view multi-stem birch tree betula jacquemontii beech hedge calamagrostis karl foerster naturalistic planting limestone gravel path

Colm Joseph suffolk walled garden design multi-stem birch tree betula jacquemontii euphorbia schillingii cenolophium denudatum dwarf pine pinus mugo sesleria autumnalis calamagrostis naturalistic planting

Colm Joseph suffolk walled garden design clay pavers euphorbia myrsinites schillingii cenolophium denudatum stipa gigantea dwarf pine pinus mugo sesleria autumnalis naturalistic planting

Colm Joseph suffolk garden design limestone gravel cenolophium denudatum sesleria autumnalis erigeron

Colm Joseph suffolk garden design multi-stem birch tree phlomis tuberosa amazone

Colm Joseph suffolk walled garden design euphorbia schillingii cenolophium denudatum naturalistic planting

A pathway through wildflower meadow leads to the relaxed kitchen garden, with another seating spot beside a beautiful multi-stem crab apple tree.

Colm Joseph suffolk walled garden design curved limestone gravel path through wildflower meadow old brick wall beech hedge

Colm Joseph suffolk walled garden design limestone gravel path seating area wildflower meadow timber architecture

Colm Joseph suffolk garden design wildflower meadow gravel path malus wintergold crabapple tree

Colm Joseph suffolk garden design gravel path through wildflower meadow crab apple tree malus wintergold naturalistic planting

Colm Joseph suffolk walled garden design limestone gravel path through wildflower meadow timber garden building

Colm Joseph suffolk walled garden design limestone gravel path through wildflower meadow

Around the front of the house, clipped cylinders of beech echo the topiary of a more traditional country garden, set within a minimalist planting of ornamental grasses – a single species of grass, Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster'.

This grass planting, and the immersive experience of walking through the grasses, is inspired by the reed marshes of the nearby River Alde.