Valley Road Garden in July

With its stunning views of a summer meadow and tree-lined horizon, it’s hard to believe that this 23m x 10m garden is only a few miles from the centre of London. It is no coincidence that this borrowed landscape was fully utilised when award-winning garden designer, Kate Gould, redesigned her parents’ garden. The layout is based on circles which allows for all-round planting to surround and frame the hard landscaping. Most importantly, though, it maximized on the space for growing plants, making use of an established framework of mature trees and shrubs. There are a number of different seating areas ranging from a sunken terrace adjacent to the house to one in the gravel garden, which catches the last rays of the sun each day.