The Laurent-Perrier Garden designed
by Tom Stuart-Smith
Designed as a contemplative space with a dreamy and slightly surreal character, this was a garden based on the idea of juxtaposing opposites.
The garden was in part a reaction against the traditional ‘Chelsea garden’ with its eye-catching features and assumptions about how people will experience a space.
The layout was composed by overlaying a number of separate patterns:
A grove of 30-year-old hornbeams pruned to appear like rounded ‘clouds’ seemed to float above a criss-crossing net of Flemish brick paths;
An undulating tapestry of predominantly green herbaceous plants including Rodgersia, Molinia, Epimedium, Asarum, Hosta ‘Devon Green’ and Astrantia was designed to calm, with an emphasis on form and texture, rather than colour;
Zinc tanks brimming with water were placed throughout the garden and offered a visual link to the large zinc-panelled rear wall, its beautiful patina and cool blue-grey colour providing the perfect backdrop to the contemplative setting.
