Surrey Couple Transforms Garden into Sustainable, Inspiring Oasis
A Surrey couple, Theresa and David Osen, have transformed their uninspiring family garden into a sustainable and inspiring space, with a frontier garden inspired by the Delos garden at Sissinghurst. The project was designed by garden architect Sarah Price, who created a rear garden that is both family-friendly and wildlife-rich.
Theresa, working from home during lockdown, envisioned a more functional and inspiring garden. She hired Tabitha Rigden of Rigden Studio, appreciating her focus on sustainability and wildlife. The garden design retained existing laurels and reused old terrace slabs and demolished materials as frontier, demonstrating a commitment to sustainability.
The rear garden is a multifunctional retreat, featuring a lawn, a shed, and a secluded seating area surrounded by lush planting. A trio of multi-stemmed Malus 'Evereste' trees provide screening and several seasons of interest. The frontier garden, unlike anything else in suburban Surrey, boasts a loose, joyful tangle of plants like Stipa gigantea, Stipa tenuissima, Salvia nemorosa 'Amethyst', Geranium clarkei 'Kashmir White', spurges, and fleabane, evoking warmer climes.
The Osen's Surrey home now enjoys a frontier garden inspired by the Delos garden at Sissinghurst and a rear garden that is a family-friendly, wildlife-rich retreat. The garden design, by Sarah Price, demonstrates a commitment to sustainability and creates fluid, multifunctional spaces using a simple palette of materials like clay pavers and limestone self-binding gravel.
