Sunset in early Spring in this town-house gravel in Rye highlights the Iris and dining area with festoon lights.

Town House Garden - East Sussex

Status | Completed Spring 2024

This property presented a challenging L-shaped garden for a town-house. As part of architectural works new French doors were installed connecting an unused rear garden to the sitting room and kitchen and creating a need for a garden that made the most of the new windows whilst looking good year-round.

Custom timber fencing and Corten supports were created to support a row of new pleached trees and, combined with a two specimen multi-stem ‘Strawberry’ trees, to re-establish privacy and vertical interest. Bespoke Corten table legs were designed for both a reclaimed stone sink to create a combined wine cooler sink/dog wash and a ‘Collectors table’ that both screens an oil boiler and displays aeoniums, spring bulbs and special plants.

Reclaimed Yorkstone was laid in courses for three multi-purpose paved areas and connected by shell-based gravel paths inspired by its seaside location. New furniture was selected with a flexible arrangement that allows for dining and entertaining for 2-10 people without overwhelming the garden when not in use.

Tightly clipped topiary was used to create formal highlights that contrast with naturalistic planting and the cloudy evergreen structural planting that was used to break up the space. A succession of bulbs and herbaceous plants flower amongst a matrix of grasses as part of an immersive plant scheme that references meadows and provides colour and interest throughout the year.

In keeping with its seaside location this is a contemporary gravel garden with the same shell-based gravel mulch used across on paths and beds to create consistency. This aids water retention, reduces water use and therefore reduces the requirement for irrigation. In addition, drought tolerant planting was specifically selected with zoned planting appropriate to conditions in specific areas.

Size | 150m2

Architect | England architecture

Landscaper | Earthworx landscaping

Photography | Nicholas Morton© Copyright

Awards | Winner of Society of Garden & Landscape Designers “New Designer” award 2026

“A delightful, well-planted garden with lots of inviting seating areas and high-quality stonework. The designer has cleverly conquered difficult parts of the site and addressed its exposure with skill. The restrained design works beautifully with the building and its history. Thoughtful planting, carefully chosen materials, and clever use of budget make this a quiet, comfortable, and highly effective garden.” SGLD Judging Panel 2026

Late afternoon sun catches the Verbascum in this town-house gravel in Rye and captures the calm lounge-seating area.
The palette of pink, plum and whites is contrasted with orange to provide depth to the planting.
Yew domes create a formal contrast to the naturalistic gravel planting and create structure for the garden.
A reclaimed stone sink with a custom-made base doubles-up as a dog-wash and champagne cooler for parties.
Reclaimed stone paving creates one of three flexible entertaining terraces. The flexible furniture is used as a seating area for normal use as well as forming part of the dining table set for entertaining.
A Corten bowl surrounded by lush grasses creates a focal-point that connects the two arms of the garden.
In mid-summer the planting becomes looser with a pink Althaea and golden Miscanthus echoing the plants of the nearby Nature Reserve.
From the first floor windows the calm green planting contrasts with the shell-mix gravel creating pattern and interest.
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Scandinavian Modern - Cotswolds