A LAWNLESS WILDLIFE GARDEN IN WEST NORFOLK
This is a signed-off concept for a garden in Dereham, Norfolk, with the build planned for spring 2027. The garden measures roughly 15m by 15m, with two big oaks, a yew, a lodge, a shed and a farmer's field at the bottom. The clients had already opened up the view themselves, so the brief was clear: lose the lawn, make room for wildlife, and have the garden feel like part of the landscape rather than a patch of grass with a fence round it.
That's the stage a full garden design is built for: working out what to keep, what to change and how it all fits together before anyone picks up a spade.
The starting point
A modern house next to open countryside is a delightful thing to have, yet an awkward thing to garden. The lawn was uneven and patchy over what looked like an old soakaway. The oaks and yew shade a lot of the plot (around two thirds of it) and every big tree has a Tree Preservation Order, so digging near the roots was off the table. The soil is very alkaline and the ground under the yew is dry and awkward. The decking was slippery, took up a lot of room, and finished in a very big step down to the garden.
Make the garden the wildlife feature
The idea that shaped everything was simple. Don't add wildlife features to a garden. Make the garden itself the feature. So there's no lawn at all, and the whole space becomes a mix of paths, planting and habitat. The mature trees stay as the backbone, which gives it a woodland feel and a ready-made setting for layered planting.
A journey, not a lawn
A looping path links the house, the lodge, the seating, the pond and the back gate, so the garden shows itself bit by bit rather than all at once. It's bark or woodchip with simple log edging, which suits the setting and keeps costs down. It also has to take the occasional motorbike on the way to the shed, so the build needs to be sturdier than it looks.
Pond, dead hedge and deadwood
The natural pond is the centrepiece. It's shaped to look like it was always there and sits where you can see it from the house. Big stone boulders push through the edge of the retained decking, so the hard line of the house softens into stone, water and planting. A dead hedge, built from cut branches and garden waste, closes off a quieter low-intervention patch under the yew and gives shelter to insects, birds and small mammals. A big piece of fallen timber sits in the planting as a focal point and will keep providing habitat as it weathers.
Reuse, and the Lookout
Half the decking goes, taking it from 3.6m deep to 1.8m, which leaves a practical area by the house and releases a lot of space for planting. The timber that comes off isn't wasted. It's reused to build the Lookout, a seating spot at the far end of the garden that catches the evening sun and looks out over the field.
Planting that belongs there
The planting is generous and naturalistic, with plenty for pollinators and seed heads left standing for winter. It changes with the conditions: marginal plants round the pond, sun-loving meadow-style planting by the Lookout, and woodland character in the shade. A detailed planting plan comes next.
Where it's got to
The concept is signed off and the build is planned for spring 2027. The clients can take on some of the work if they want to, like clearing the lawn, building the dead hedge and finding the timber, and I'll build the rest, with a specialist contractor doing the pond. I'll add photos here as it goes in.
If your garden meets open countryside, it's worth designing it to meet the landscape halfway.
A LAWNLESS WILDLIFE GARDEN IN WEST NORFOLK
This is a signed-off concept for a garden in Dereham, Norfolk, with the build planned for spring 2027. The garden measures roughly 15m by 15m, with two big oaks, a yew, a lodge, a shed and a farmer's field at the bottom. The clients had already opened up the view themselves, so the brief was clear: lose the lawn, make room for wildlife, and have the garden feel like part of the landscape rather than a patch of grass with a fence round it.
That's the stage a full garden design is built for: working out what to keep, what to change and how it all fits together before anyone picks up a spade.
The starting point
A modern house next to open countryside is a delightful thing to have, yet an awkward thing to garden. The lawn was uneven and patchy over what looked like an old soakaway. The oaks and yew shade a lot of the plot (around two thirds of it) and every big tree has a Tree Preservation Order, so digging near the roots was off the table. The soil is very alkaline and the ground under the yew is dry and awkward. The decking was slippery, took up a lot of room, and finished in a very big step down to the garden.
Make the garden the wildlife feature
The idea that shaped everything was simple. Don't add wildlife features to a garden. Make the garden itself the feature. So there's no lawn at all, and the whole space becomes a mix of paths, planting and habitat. The mature trees stay as the backbone, which gives it a woodland feel and a ready-made setting for layered planting.
A journey, not a lawn
A looping path links the house, the lodge, the seating, the pond and the back gate, so the garden shows itself bit by bit rather than all at once. It's bark or woodchip with simple log edging, which suits the setting and keeps costs down. It also has to take the occasional motorbike on the way to the shed, so the build needs to be sturdier than it looks.
Pond, dead hedge and deadwood
The natural pond is the centrepiece. It's shaped to look like it was always there and sits where you can see it from the house. Big stone boulders push through the edge of the retained decking, so the hard line of the house softens into stone, water and planting. A dead hedge, built from cut branches and garden waste, closes off a quieter low-intervention patch under the yew and gives shelter to insects, birds and small mammals. A big piece of fallen timber sits in the planting as a focal point and will keep providing habitat as it weathers.
Reuse, and the Lookout
Half the decking goes, taking it from 3.6m deep to 1.8m, which leaves a practical area by the house and releases a lot of space for planting. The timber that comes off isn't wasted. It's reused to build the Lookout, a seating spot at the far end of the garden that catches the evening sun and looks out over the field.
Planting that belongs there
The planting is generous and naturalistic, with plenty for pollinators and seed heads left standing for winter. It changes with the conditions: marginal plants round the pond, sun-loving meadow-style planting by the Lookout, and woodland character in the shade. A detailed planting plan comes next.
Where it's got to
The concept is signed off and the build is planned for spring 2027. The clients can take on some of the work if they want to, like clearing the lawn, building the dead hedge and finding the timber, and I'll build the rest, with a specialist contractor doing the pond. I'll add photos here as it goes in.
If your garden meets open countryside, it's worth designing it to meet the landscape halfway.
