Pemberton Road in May

Designed by an award-winning architect, the house was built just five years ago and replaces a Victorian cottage, apart from the front façade which is in keeping with the architecture in a quiet street in a Surrey town. The original cottage had been empty for four years, so the garden was very unloved and overgrown. A huge redwood and six mature leylandii blocked out light, ivy and grasses roamed free, and any attempt to dig through the crazy paving was thwarted when huge lumps of concrete surfaced. ‘We needed a lot of creative vision to see past what was there, and to imagine the potential.’ There was just one saving grace, a mature, small-leaved Japanese acer which survived neglect and building work to become a beautiful centrepiece.