Field House Garden in May

The influence of Japanese gardens is plain to see in the design of this London garden in which a long pond runs down the centre of the 10m x 18m space, and is edged in Siberian irises, hostas, pink bistort, Hakonechloa macra and ferns. It is also partly inspired by Persian Chahar Bagh gardens, both in terms of the rectangular shape and the Islamic notion of a Paradise Garden, a space for sanctuary. Gravel paths lead around the pond, enclosed in borders largely filled with evergreens — tree ferns, phormiums, bay, Fatsia japonica, bamboos, photinia, viburnum, loquat, camellia, eucalyptus, callistemon and photinia. It’s hard to believe that just five years ago, this was a dark overgrown space dominated by old trees and leylandii.