How much does architecture effect garden style

Architecture can play a huge role in influencing the style of the garden or it can have no bearing whatsoever.  These days glass, concrete and timber is often used in homes and these organic materials are perfect when used in the garden, making the transition between house and garden more unified.

I believe that we understand our climate so much more than we did even 20 years ago, so it means the indoor and outdoor spaces can be linked to each other so much better than they used to be.  Architects know when sun is required, and shade needed, without affecting the light that comes into the home, and this only makes our job as designers of outdoor spaces, easier, as we strive to carry the seamless flow from house to garden.

On the face of it, the style of the home often tells you a lot about the inhabitants and the style of the garden they will like.  Every so often though, this can be misleading, and in this instance, the home and the garden form a wonderful irony and contrast with each other.  It’s similar to placing an antique in an ultra-modern home or building a modern kitchen in an old home.  It’s hard not to find the contrast appealing.  I love the contrast for example, of a casual mixed border style garden enveloping a really old formal house, when you would expect a more traditional formal garden around the house.  This type of client is committed to a particular style of garden, and no matter the type of house they live in they would always choose that style of garden. 

Mostly, this is not the case, and first impressions of the home usually tell you a lot.  It becomes a little more complicated when the couple have opposite tastes in gardens.  Your powers of diplomacy come to the fore, and even if you want to side with one, listening to both parties is really important.  In this way the result of the garden is a mesh of their ideas along with yours and it’s what gives the garden its uniqueness.

Share this article

Back to Blog