St · Stipa tenuissima · ×220
The movement
Feather grass at the front of every border, so the whole garden moves in a breeze and catches low evening light.
Field records / 2025/18
A meadow walk for a lawn that never worked.
Before and after
Before · March
After · August
Same bench, same wall, five months apart. Drag the roller.
The plan
Four plants do most of the work.
The path bends three times so you never see the whole garden at once. Either side, four repeating drifts carry the planting from May to the first frosts.
Sa · Salvia 'Caradonna' · ×180
The bees
Violet spikes from late May. Cut back in July and it flowers again into September.
Vb · Verbena bonariensis · ×140
The height
See-through purple on wiry stems, so the back of the border stays airy and the wall still shows.
Ec · Echinacea purpurea · ×160
The finale
Coneflowers for August, then seed heads left standing all winter for the goldfinches.
Build log
Three weeks, start to finish
- Wk 1
Lift and open
140 m² of turf stripped and composted on site. 6 tonnes of grit and green waste dug into the clay.
- Wk 2
Path and edges
Self-binding gravel on a 100 mm sub-base, steel edging, and the lawn oval set slightly lower to take the run-off.
- Wk 3
Plant and water in
1,200 plugs planted by our team of four in two days, mulched with 50 mm of peat-free compost.
Your garden next
Got a lawn that never works?
We'll walk it with you, free, within 15 miles of Hemel Hempstead.