Portfolio - Small Town Garden by Judith Sharpe
This long, narrow garden is typical of the space behind many Victorian terraces. It is 23m x 6.5m (75'x21') Curves rarely work in such a long, narrow space so straight lines were used and the garden divided up into four distinct areas.This garden is featured in Sir Roy Strong's book 'Successful Small Gardens' He wrote: "There is a welcoming luxuriance combined with a real sense of style about this garden. This clever solution to the perennial problem of the long narrow town back garden is a classic demonstration of the importance of contrasting ground level surfaces: soft verdant grass, crunchy, caramel gravel and pale regular paving. Placing these elements in sequence subtly emphasises the garden's width, and the staggered arrangement of two small lawns is a more exciting use of space than the predictable central panel ...... Designed by Judith Sharpe, this garden belongs to the tradition of strong structure and luxuriant planting, epitomised by the partnership at the turn of the century of Sir Edwin Lutyens, the architect, and Gertrude Jekyll, the plantswoman. The charm of this style is the way the natural forms of the plants blur and soften the underlying geometry of the layout."
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