Projects / Plate 01
The Terraced Hillside
A 1:4 slope that the family could not use became four walkable terraces, built from stone dug out of the site itself.
- Client
- Private family garden
- Site
- South-facing slope, chalk downland edge
- Area
- 620 m²
- Timeline
- 14 months, design to planting
Select an image to enlarge. Illustrative imagery.
Site constraints
- Gradient of roughly 1:4 with shallow chalky topsoil over flint.
- No machine access beyond a 1.2 m side gate, so walls had to be hand-built.
- Full sun and strong south-westerly wind; no irrigation wanted.
Design process
We surveyed levels by hand, then tested three terrace counts in section drawings. Four terraces kept every wall below 900 mm, avoiding engineered retaining structures. Excavated flint and sandstone were stockpiled and reused in the dry-stone faces, cutting imported material.
Planting detail
- Stipa tenuissima
- Lavandula × intermedia 'Grosso'
- Santolina chamaecyparissus
- Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna'
- Euphorbia characias
- Olea europaea (multi-stem, existing pot-grown tree relocated)
- Thymus serpyllum in joints
- Eryngium bourgatii
Scope used
Full design commission: survey, concept, technical package, planting plan and site visits during build by the client's appointed contractor.
Full garden design — from £6,500
