river views and sandstone terraces
DEE BANKS, CHESTER
“We spent 18 months renovating the house and then turned our attention to the garden, which by then was completely overgrown. A big weeping willow was obscuring the view and a number of walls in each layered tier of the garden had deteriorated and needed replacing. I’m not much of a gardener myself but Simon had some great ideas and we were happy to go with them. Edges and paths have been defined and the beautifully curved sandstone walls are a lovely feature. The willow tree was carefully cut back to rejuvenate it and it’s now growing nicely and has become a focal point.”
dee banks, chester
It’s quite unusual to require a commercial tug and a pontoon on a landscaping project. But that’s what was needed in order to bring tools, plants and soil up stream to a site with challenging access.
Dee Banks is a private house situated in a stunning location on the banks of the River Dee in Chester. Its garden is steeply sloped with a dramatic four-metre change in level from the top of the garden to the bottom.
Land Studio was commissioned to improve the views, create usable spaces and make the most of the riverside location.
The family wanted a low maintenance garden which promoted the views from the house and garden out over the river. Resolving level differences in a simple and efficient way was also important.
Designing unique landscapes and transforming spaces is something we love doing. There’s nothing quite like going out to visit a site, understanding how the end user will interact with the landscape and then coming back to the studio full of ideas and creating a beautiful place from it.
Dee Banks has a garden of curving terraces leading down to the river. The incredible views of the river were screened from view, the pathways and steps were falling apart but the potential to create something dynamic and exciting was clear to see.
Sketch plan showing the proposed terracing down to the river Dee.
Our approach has been to work with the change in levels to create a series of gently curving terraces that descend from a top dining terrace through to softer, planted spaces with incidental seating and areas of lawn.
Between the terraces, a dramatic and wild planting palette was created to accentuate the contrast between the clean lines of the terrace walls and the level transitions down to the riverbank.
We added colour and texture with our planting, pleached trees for screening, a boathouse roof deck with seating, interesting edges and paths and even an area for an outdoor kitchen and pizza oven.
We also built gently curved sandstone walls into our design to protect the soil from slipping downhill.
The tug company fastened a pontoon to the side of the river-accessed garden during the project and happily transported diggers, all the tools, every bit of sandstone and clay block pavers for the walling, and all of the planting and soil up the river each day.
Photograph of the new site looking out onto the Dee.
Detail photograph of the terraced beds and lawn.