Pelham Place, London

Whether she is the owner returning home or a first-time visitor, anyone stepping into the front garden of this South Kensington townhouse will be welcomed by the rich scents of jasmine in summer, and of Sarcococca confusa on even the darkest winter day.

With its weathered paving and stone-edged beds, the space already displayed the old-fashioned formality you might expect in the garden of a Grade II* listed building. The house has been fully renovated, however, and we have brought the same fresh thinking to its garden. Now dense sarcococcahedges surround a mono planting of Hydrangea paniculata ‘Lime green’, so that the garden seems submerged by a profusion of cool, green flowers in late summer.

The wonderfully elegant and intimate space we have created behind the house is comfortably furnished with sofa and chairs. Our lighting makes it as welcoming after dark as it is during the day. We have planted an enfilade of Quercus ilex to line the walls, and their bare trunks and clipped heads produce a familiar touch of formality. This is offset by the rich mix of shrubs and perennials beneath the trees, which fill the garden with colour and scent all year. As always we have included one novelty in our planting. This time it is a new variety of mahonia, M. eurybracteatasubsp. ganpinensis ‘Soft Caress’. Its delicate fern-like leaves add another texture to the planting, and its flowers fill the garden with their honey scent in late summer.

In collaboration with:

Interior designer: Gordon-Duff & Linton

Architects: Jo Cowen Architects

Main contractor: LDB Construction

Photography: David Butler