Woodland and exotic shade planting

My client wanted a planting plan for a large newly-rebuilt garden in Woking.  The large raised terrace was to be extended to include a deck with a pool and hot tub, and the playground equipment taken out of the garden.  Plants had to be dogproof and to fit in with bamboo, leylandii hedges and a new planting of silver birch and magnolia trees.  The only planting she wanted kept was a small side bed which included a tree fern,and she preferred a range of greens rather than bright colours.

I used the tree fern as a starting point for an exotic bed, with a drooping conifer, fatsia and eriobotrya to help create this.  The magnolia trees created an ‘inbetween’ bed with a large hydrangea and some box, and the silver birches on the other side of the garden had woodland planting.

The south-facing beds had purple and grey foliage in amongst the green, with a few blue and white flowering plants.

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