Water garden with reflective pool & rill

A new extension of oak & glass was being added to a large Arts & Crafts house in a country estate in Surrey. 

The brief was to design the area immediately outside the extension to include running water but without blocking the stunning views from the terrace. 

The house has been renovated in a minimalist style and the garden was to reflect the clients’ tastes but also compliment the traditional Yorkstone terrace running the length of the house.

Centred on the new study, a low raised pool was built with water falling via a copper chute into a rill which leads to a large reflective pool.  Box balls help to frame the view to the raised pool when seen from the house.

The area is wrapped around with a clipped yew hedge to create an intimate space for the family to enjoy. 

Cubes of clipped Buxus sempervirens and the hedge contrast with with soft planting which includes grasses such as Miscanthus, Stipa Gigantea and Pennisetum.  Flower and foliage colour is restricted to green, white and reds.

Plants list     

Hedging
Buxus sempervirens 
Taxus baccata

Shrubs
Berberis thunbergii Nana                   
Berberis ottawensis auricoma       
Choisya ternata               
Cistus Alan Fradd               
Cornus alba Elegantissima       
Cotinus Velvet Cloak           
Cotoneaster Coral Beauty           
Hebe sutherlandii               
Hebe albicans                
Hebe angustifolia               
Melianthus Major               
Philadelphus Manteau d’Hermine   
Photinia x fraseri Red Robin       
Prunus cistena                 
Pittosporum tenuifolium           
Pittosporum tobira               
Pittosporum tobira Nanum       
Potentilla Abbotswood           
Viburnum carlesii               
Viburnum tinus               

Climbers
Clematis armandii               
Garry Elliptica James Roof       
Pyracantha Saphyr Red           
Viburnum burkwoodii           

Herbaceous
Anemone Honorine Jobert       
Artemisia Powis Castle           
Bergenia white               
Cirsium rivulare atropurpureum       
Cynara cardunculus           
Erigeron karvinskianus           
Euphorbia martinii               
Geranium sanguineum album       
Heucherella ‘Kimono’               
Heuchera Palace Purple           
Iberis sempervirens           
Knautia Macedonica           
Libertia grandiflora               
Lysimachia Ephemerum           
Pulmonaria Sissinghurst White       
Scabiosa Chile Black           
Viola cornuta alba

Grasses
Festuca glauca               
Miscanthus sinensis ‘China’               
Miscanthus sinensis  ‘Malepartus’           
Miscanthus sinensis ‘Silberfeder’           
Miscanthus sinensis ‘Yakushima Dwarf’       
Pennisetum alopecuroides       
Stipa arundinacea               
Stipa gigantea               
Stipa tenuissima