Raynes Park family garden

What began as a plain, functional family lawn — home to not much more than a football goal and a play area — has been transformed into a garden with distinct areas for relaxing, entertaining and growing things. A paved terrace off the conservatory offers space for dining and a barbecue, while a separate lounge area gathers around a fire pit, and a hammock strung between timber posts invites quieter moments in the wildflower meadow.

The borders shift character through the seasons: spring brings black and orange tulips alongside zingy euphorbia and a soft haze of blue brunnera, giving way in summer to a bright mix of echinacea, rudbeckia, helenium and agastache that hums with colour and pollinators. A wildflower area with ragged robin in spring and ox-eye daisies in summer softens the transition between lawn and terrace, and by autumn the planting settles into rustier tones as the hydrangea and persicaria fade.

Throughout, timber posts, slatted fencing and simple furniture keep the design grounded and family-friendly — a garden built for everyday use as much as for looking at.

A Raynes Park family garden before its redesign, with a football goal on the lawn and a play area beyond. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk Before the redesign, the garden centred on a plain lawn with a football goal and a distant play area, its borde
Concept plan drawing for a Raynes Park family garden, showing a large lawn, dining terrace, firepit and mixed borders. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk This concept plan sets out a family-friendly rear garden in Raynes Park, built around a generous
A wide lawn leads to a wooden bench framed by tulips and euphorbia in a Raynes Park family garden. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk A generous stretch of lawn draws the eye toward a timber bench set within a spring border of tulips, euphorbia and orn
A hammock is strung between timber posts above naturalistic wildflower planting in a Raynes Park garden. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk A striped hammock hangs between chunky timber posts over a drift of ragged robin and ornamental grasses, with a
Pink ragged robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi) flowers grow through a wild flower meadow area in a Raynes Park garden meadow. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk The frilled pink petals of ragged robin rise through soft meadow grass, with blurred orange poppie
A black rattan corner sofa with cream cushions surrounds a domed firepit on a garden patio. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk A generous rattan corner sofa dressed with cream cushions and a bold red accent wraps around a riveted steel firepit, with ca
Purple agastache spikes rise in front of a colourful perennial border and lawn in a Raynes Park garden. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk Tall spires of purple agastache lead the eye along a border filled with rudbeckia, echinacea and salvia, with a n
Dark purple and orange tulips surround a wooden bench in a spring border. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk Deep purple 'Queen of Night' tulips mix with fiery orange blooms and acid-green euphorbia around a weathered wooden bench, with a birdhouse mou
A dining patio with metal table and chairs sits in front of a large conservatory extension in a Raynes Park family garden. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk A paved terrace furnished with a metal dining set and a covered barbecue runs along the length
Dark purple and orange bicolour tulips bloom against a timber fence covered in climbing foliage. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk Rows of near-black tulips and vivid orange-and-yellow blooms stand out against a backdrop of climbing foliage trained up
Blue brunnera flowers and lime-green euphorbia fill a spring border alongside pale tulips. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk A soft haze of blue brunnera flowers contrasts with globes of acid-yellow euphorbia and pale ivory tulips, showing the garden'
A late-summer border mixes pink echinacea, yellow rudbeckia and orange helenium flowers. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk A richly planted border combines the pink daisy flowers of echinacea, golden rudbeckia and warm orange helenium, creating a dens
Golden rudbeckia and white gaura flowers fill a border against a timber fence. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk A cascade of golden rudbeckia flowers arches over airy white gaura and pink echinacea, creating a soft, informal border against the garden
Fading hydrangea and persicaria flowers bring autumn colour to a shrub border. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk As summer turns to autumn, the border's hydrangea heads fade to soft rust tones alongside persicaria spikes and evergreen shrubs, with a b
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