Whilst the developers of this well built new-build in Goring had already constructed the bones of an outdoor room, the garden lacked the head turning appeal it deserved.

Nevertheless in-house designer Jess Sarson rose to the challenge of redesigning a garden which was far wider than it was deep and had a slope of some 1.2m.

Circular sweeping paths lead you around the garden, slowing the journey to enhance the apparent size, and an oversized double swing was made by our friend and craftsman Alex Brooks, which at 4m tall caused the local Planning Enforcement Officer to pop around to check what we were building! Retaining walls and broad steps made of faux grass, were constructed and realigned to make the most of the views from the house, and simple raised beds were filled with cut flowers and sweet peas grown by us. Finally a stunning shepherds hut is likely to be fought over by all the family.

Despite the plants arriving with 100mm of snow on the ground, the garden has become really established in less than six months and won many plaudits, not least when Jess presented the scheme to ‘The Society of Garden Designers’ as part of her adjudication application to become a fully registered member of the Society.

Indeed the paving supplier Pave Stone was so impressed with the project that images of the garden will be used in their 2020 brochure.