Japanese garden Hackney, East london current photos

My current photo's of the garden now the Azalea's have flowered. Apart form the white flowered plants.


The Moss is not doing to well as the birds have been stealing it to build there nests. We will just need to be patient and wait for it to develop. I am trying to grow some for the future but it is not easy!



The garden is based upon the my clients wifes family garden in japan. His wife’s family is a Saki producer and the family business is “Tsuji Honten” and this is in the town of Katsuyama in the prefecture of Okayama. The house and garden have stood on the same site for over 200 years. So our garden has some way to go before it develops the maturity and ‘Sabi’ of the original. The Landscaped area of the garden is 14 x 20 feet and the whole garden is 14 x 36 feet.



I will photograph the garden again after the Azalea's are clipped following flowering. I will also be introducing some Iris "ensata" and hopefully a cloud pruned tree.

South of France

Well we had a hard working holiday in the South of France. The site was heavily overgrown and we had to clear all the wood that I had cut down last year. We took a chipper shredder with us, building tools and items for the client like new doors, pictures, screens and glass. We borrowed a horse box to carry all the materials and tools.
On arrival we were dissapointed to find that the French builders who are in the middle of building an extension adjacent to our clients land had not completed what they had supposed to and this left us unable to work on the terraces adjacent to my clients house. We carried out site clearance, internal repairs, prepared areas for planting and built the seating areas.


My client is going to use the house and grounds to provide workshops for personal development, art and healing. Therfore we are trying to develop areas where people can sit, meet, reflect and take in the views of the site. To this end we created the seat nestled in the rocks at the top of the site and created a quiet area under a pergola to to provide shade.
While in this area and being very close to Anduze we visited the finest Bamboo garden in Europe, La Bambouseraie. We worked for seven days with one day off in the middle of the period for a break.


You can see below how the site looked towards the end of the period


Area using natural rock formation and new introductions to prepare an area for later planting. We were advised at the local nursery to plant in the Autumn as it was now moving in to the hot period.


Cleared area



Seat made out of one piece Beech bench cut to follow the contours of the rock face



Pergola area to provide shade and quite area for treatment


Boys on the bench


On the way to the ferry home

France working in the Languedoc

For the next two weeks I will be away with the team working in the South of France, on a large wild garden that I hope we will bring order to. If i get a chance i will update the site to show the progress or I will just do it on my return.

Twickenham low maintenance garden

This is a garden that we completed a month or so ago. The space was quite confined as the it runs uphill and is only 6'/1.8metres wide at its narrowest point. Japanese influences are strong in the stone layout and planting. The tall fences are all wired for the climbing plants and will look quite powerful when they are established. The client tells me that the garden looks superb at night so I will be going along to photograph the garden at night.

Twickenham courtyard garden update

Its nice when the decking starts to go down and create useable space. The client can then see the space develop.

We are now leaving to work in the South of France for the next two weeks, we left the site in as tidy a state as possible giving the client space to use. The deck is Ipe and is superb. Hard to lay and takes time to put down properly but the end result looks superb. We fix our hardwood decks with stainless steel screws and oli the deks to add further protection.

Twickenham terrace, water feature and decking

Design for a terrace, water feature and large rock feature. Will look visually exciting.
Using hardwood decking built around the rock. I anticipate the rock will be at least a ton in weight. Should be interesting to instal.

Twickenham courtyard garden update

Fences all up, walls all up, ready now for building decking steps and built in seats.

Home Garden

Easter weekend was spent clearing my own garden. And apart from the fact that we can not clean the York stone paving due to the hose pipe ban it was a good start. The garden had been invaded badly by ground elder and this is a tough and difficult plant to remove. It does not even respond well to weedkiller. Anyway job done for the moment as it was all dug out. It will return, they say that one years growth of weed is five years misery. I will now be dealing with the other problems in the garden including replanning some of the beds.

Kingston upon Thames formal front garden

Formal front minimalist garden

Twickenham courtyard garden update

First week on site carrying out the groundworks and installing retaining wall and perimeter fences. Short week due to Easter holidays and weather variable from sunshine, heavy rain and furious winds. Progress good considering conditions.
Next week we will be putting in the services and decking.

Twickenham courtyard garden

This is a town garden that we are about to build.
We have made amendments to the scheme in order to meet the clients budget and this has been acheived. However this will have little effect on the overall look. The look is very modern and cosy with Willow screen walls, built in seating, hardwood decking, steel planters simple low maintenance planting

Drawing test 2

Ibiza - Makeover time

Once yearly maintenenance & makeover carried out on clients garden in Cala Vadella, Ibiza. What a job 20degrees plus in March.

Twickenham sweeping garden, deck and waterfall

Little Japan in Hackney, East London

New garden in Hackney based upon a three hundred year old family garden from West Japan. The Design and installation was a colaboration between the owner Mike Dean and designer Andrew Fenney to try to acheive in a short period of time a reflection of the Garden of Mike's wifes parents garden in Japan.
More photos to follow following flowering of Azaleas.