Monmouth House

The owners of this townhouse on the edge of St Peter Port had a tired, awkward south-facing garden, much of it given over to paving. The plot is long and narrow, but it enjoys beautiful, uninterrupted views across the Ruette Brayes valley.

They wanted a garden for entertaining friends and family that still made room for generous perennial planting. The budget meant the paving could be updated but not removed entirely, and they also needed storage and somewhere quiet to sit together and enjoy the evenings.

The main aim was to break the garden into a sequence of spaces that creates intrigue: a garden that draws you all the way to the far end without ever revealing it all at once. Two multi-stemmed amelanchiers and trellis screening divide the plot, partly hiding what lies beyond, and at the very end a secluded seating area with a fire pit makes the most of the valley views and the evening light. Storage is tucked away out of sight too: a wood store and shed sit hidden at the rear of the garden behind a trellis.

Closer to the house, the entertaining space is enhanced with an outdoor kitchen, and the updated paving and new steps link terrace and lawn. The planting brings structure, movement and year-round interest through strong, dense perennial planting, with grasses and repeated plants tying the garden together from one end to the other.

The scheme was developed as a hand-drawn plan and then brought to life with visualisations and a fly-through, so the owners could see and walk through the garden before building began.

The project is currently in the build phase. Photographs of the finished garden will follow.