Water Gardens

Petworth Garden Design

Garden designed by Lynne Marcus & constructed by The Garden Builders

Garden Design Petworth Sussex

Shortlisted for BALI Landscape Awards 2020
Category: Domestic Garden Construction - Projects Over £250K


Award Garden Designer Sussex stunning countryside garden design York stoneThe vast, stunning grounds to this tasteful country home were designed by Lynne Marcus Garden Design, The Garden Builders were appointed to bring the design to reality. We worked carefully with both designer and homeowner to make this large scale design work within budget and time-frame. The garden transformation starts at the entrance to this country retreat where a resurfaced driveway and new access road to guest- suites deliver you into the property.

From the drive, new local cropped stone walls and York-stone steps were re-built, in fact the entire entrance steps and adjacent walls were shifted to maximise the views of this idyllic cottage and made the transition from driveway to the house more logical and impressive.

The stone was recycled from the previous garden stone elements, so only minimal reclaimed materials had to be imported. Wherever stone needed to be extended, if we couldn't use recycled stone, then local suppliers were used and this stone too was reclaimed.

The rear garden's previous design did not allow for unobstructed views to the stunning surrounds. With clever design and an understanding of the levels required to achieve easy access around the garden, this garden was quite literally, demolished, stone recycled and new levels/terraces/walls re-built to maximise the views.

Sussex Garden Landscape Design Contractor


As you step out of the home, the existing terrace was realigned to a new orientation forcing you to take in the views. Existing and imported reclaimed York-stone paving create sumptuous pathways from the main house to the guest rooms and importantly to the pool area. Recycled stone cropped walls were built to match existing/previous walls at new levels and new planting areas softened the whole effect cleverly anchoring the hard landscaping. Joining the main house to the pool area is a stunning semi-sunken Rill water feature. This powder coated aluminium Rill feature emphasises the vista and strong lines of the garden design and reflects the skyline beautifully. To the right of the water feature a new extended seating area big enough to entertain family, extended family and friends was built. The pool terraces were updated with a mix of recycled York Stone and Kebony wood decking all at multiple levels, each area is softened by plants and perfectly lining up with important geometry of the surrounding buildings.

This country garden has a huge main lawn at over 1000m2. The formal Croquet lawn was better integrated in terms of level into the new design and retained and edged to give a truly playable, level surface for those important family games and competitions. The sloping sections of lawn at each end are a combination of mowed formal grass pathways with large swathes of wildflower meadow that flow into the naturalistic planting.

A huge, eclectic mix of planting was used throughout this green haven. More formal and structured planting was created within the terraces and pathways that connect the buildings and the pool, with more naturalistic, cottage effect planting on the boundaries and lawn surrounds. Critically, an emphasis on seasonal change was threaded through the planting design from the large trees to bulbs and ground cover. The thoughtful planting scheme not only gives life and colour to the garden all year round but allows powerful scents to be enjoyed while wandering around this slice of Sussex.
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