Hard and soft-landscaped garden with a composite decking pathway framing a planted rockery

A wide-angled shot of a sprawling rustic garden with lounging seats on the newly laid block paving

A close-up of a rustic garden feature - a planted rockery bordered by composite decking

Hard and soft-landscaped garden with a composite decking pathway framing a planted rockery

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Rustic woodland garden designs

Feel a little closer to nature with a rustic woodland garden design created by the experts at ARC Landscapes. Contact our team in Southend-on-Sea now for a free quote and initial design consultation.

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Case study: our brief

The brief for this rustic woodland garden was threefold:

1.

To deal with dramatic changes in elevation between the top and bottom parts of the garden and retain the land in tiers to create different and distinct levels.

2.

To transition from a rustic top garden space dominated by large trees into a more family friendly entertaining space for the bottom garden space.

3.

To use materials sympathetic to the design style.

Rustic garden design with planted beds, sandstone paving, and artificial grass

Circular paved patio design with a hanging wicker seat - trees and shrubs bordering the area

Working with the existing landscape

The existing features, predominantly the large trees and changes in elevation, were always going to dictate the style. Using timber reclaimed railway sleepers as opposed to brick or block retaining walls to terrace the garden was a much less risky option considering the potential future movement of the land caused by the slopes and the root systems of the trees. Brickwork or blockwork would be more prone to cracking and movement under such duress and much harder to rectify any issues going forward when compared to the reclaimed sleepers.

Composite decking pathway encompassing a rockery with planter borders

Choosing the
right materials

Using more traditional and even rustic building materials such as reclaimed sleepers, chestnut post and rail fencing, Kentish rockery stone, sandstone paving and weathered oak decking means the materials were more akin to the planting style and so offered balance to the design.

The transition from the more rustic woodland top garden to the more family friendly entertaining space on the bottom level was achieved by maintaining the planting style and scheme whilst slightly modernising the material selection and layout to create a broader, more open space, less densely planted and more suited to housing garden furniture. A repetition of some materials was used to transition the two spaces, creating balance and continuity, but their application and layout – longer lines and larger scale - meant that a slightly different feel could be achieved.

A rustic garden design with an angular artificial section of grass, overlooked by a hanging trees

Low-angled shot of a rustic garden - sprawling garden with trees, patio area, composite decking

A successful outcome

As always, the challenge for the designer in this garden was to balance the needs and requirements of the client with the existing features whilst maintaining a clear vision of style when making any decisions on layout and material selection. Something both us and the client agreed wholeheartedly that we had achieved with dramatic results.

Contact ARC Landscapes today to discuss your very own unique garden design style.

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