Many houses have a ‘problem’ area, and for these clients, an east-facing bank which edged their parking area was definitely it! The first place that visitors to the house saw, the bank was covered with a thick blanket of cotoneaster horizontalis, which may have done a good job of suppressing weeds, but was extremely uninspiring.
The brief was to create a soft, yet impactful entrance to the driveway of the client’s country home. Set on a gentle slope overlooking farmland, there was scope to bring elements of the view up to the house, by incorporating shimmering grasses and lacy perennials which echoed the barley and corn in the fields beyond the house. Miscanthus and deschampsia grasses set the tone, along with a haze of thalictrum delavyi with colour interjected by the graceful verbena bonariensis. Stronger pops of colour are introduced by Echinaceas and Salvias, while the bottom edges of the slope are softened by erigeron and alchemilla mollis.
