Surrey pollinator friendly garden design

When the clients bought this property there was an old swimming pool on an upper level and a ratty patio on a lower level, with no link between the two. The pool was filled in, creating space for a greyhound-sized lawn and as many pollinator-friendly plants as possible for the clients' bees. The two areas were linked with new steps so all areas of the garden could be accessed.

New brick retaining walls and stone steps now tie the levels together, softened by lady's mantle, verbena bonariensis and geranium spilling over the edges. On the lower terrace, a dining table set beneath the walls looks back up toward the garden, while the upper level unfolds into a wide, elliptical lawn bordered by dense, naturalistic planting.

The borders are built for pollinators as much as for people: globe thistles, echinacea, rudbeckia and salvia provide a long season of nectar, with cranesbill geraniums and alliums threading through as underplanting. Weathered benches are placed to make the most of the view, and a mown path through longer grass at the garden's edge gives the clients and their dog somewhere wilder to wander. In spring, dark tulips and white Viburnum plicatum Mariesii bring an earlier note of colour before the summer border takes over.

A Surrey garden before its redesign, with a disused swimming pool covered by an algae-stained tarpaulin. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk Before the transformation, the garden was dominated by a neglected swimming pool under a worn, algae-covered cov
A wide view of the sloped elliptical lawn shows a wooden bench, alliums and a garden shed. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk Evening light rakes across the garden's sloped, elliptical lawn, with a timber bench, drumstick alliums and ornamental grasses
A wooden bench sits beside ornamental grasses and blue geraniums at the edge of a lawn. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk A weathered timber bench nestles among feathery Stipa grasses and drifts of blue geranium, marking a quiet corner at the edge of
Purple geraniums, alliums and yarrow bloom against a brick wall and wooden gate in a Surrey pollinator garden. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk A rich tapestry of blue cranesbill geraniums, drumstick alliums, salvia and yellow yarrow fills the border
Stone steps set into a brick retaining wall are framed by lady's mantle and verbena bonariensis. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk Pale stone treads rise through a brick retaining wall, softened by clouds of acid-green lady's mantle, tall verbena bona
An elevated view shows a dining terrace, brick steps and sweeping lawn bordered by colourful pollinator planting. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk Seen from above, the garden's layout unfolds: a stone terrace set for dining, brick steps rising throug
A sweeping elliptical lawn is framed by pollinator-friendly borders in a Surrey garden. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk A generous oval lawn curves between deep borders packed with euphorbia, geraniums and foxtail lilies, with a timber gate and benc
A wooden bench is surrounded by globe thistles, gaura and ornamental grasses in a pollinator border. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk Spiky blue globe thistles and airy white gaura crowd around a rustic bench, with grasses and golden yarrow adding te
Dark purple salvia spikes rise above pink erigeron daisies and petunias in a mixed border. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk Near-black salvia flower spikes stand out among a soft haze of pink erigeron daisies, trailing petunias and golden yarrow, wit
A weathered wooden bench sits beside terracotta pots and blue geraniums against a brick wall. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk A woman and her dog make their way along a mown path through tall, flower-studded grass, part of the garden's more naturali
An Corylopsis pauciflora glows in golden evening light beside a lawn and tulip border. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk Evening sunlight catches the delicate blossom of an Corylopsis pauciflora, its branches glowing gold against the shaded lawn, with
Ornamental grasses, rudbeckia and dark elderberry fruit bring autumn interest to a Surrey border. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk As the season turns, feathery grasses and golden rudbeckia mingle with the dark berries of an elderberry shrub, showing
White Viburnum plicatum Mariesii and deep purple tulips border a lawn beside clipped box balls. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk Frothy white Viburnum plicatum Mariesii flowers arch over a row of near-black tulips, with neatly clipped box balls and o
Dark purple tulips stand in front of white hydrangea blooms beside a garden lawn. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk Rich purple tulips rise in the foreground of a border where white hydrangea paniculata and clipped box balls meet a neatly mown lawn en
A wooden bench is framed by golden rudbeckia and white Echinacea in a pollinator border. JaneShanksterGardenDesign.co.uk Golden rudbeckia and pale echinacea crowd around a weathered bench, with globe thistles and geraniums adding further colour to t
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