Caroline Garland, Wandsworth garden (SW18)

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Styles: Allotment or vegetable plot, Minimalist, Organic

Soil types: Clay

Soil drainage: Moist but well-drained

Soil pH: Neutral

Light: Partial Shade

Aspect: East

Exposure: Sheltered

This is a small garden in Wandsworth which was full of old shrubs, very dense, with little space or light and the owner needed to turn it into an area where she could entertain and spend time without feeling claustrophobic and where her student sons could also have a place where they could be with their friends. She needed the garden to be relatively low maintenance, but with raised vegetable beds. The garden has a high end wall and is quite narrow. We cleared out ALL the shrubs, lifted the canopy of the existing trees, took out a magnolia (sad but essential) and created raised vegetable beds using railway sleepers plus a raised seating area at the back of the garden. We put in a small amount of lawn and small flower beds for grasses. We decided the garden would look lighter using gravel, we used painted horizontal lathes for the fencing and we painted the shed black - enchanting!