East Midlands: The Roots in Stone Garden

The scheme was designed for a family with a large sloping plot with a stream at the bottom. The design makes the most of the house’s elevated location and wonderful vistas have been created as well as more intimate places to sit and enjoy the space.

The concept for the garden is deeply rooted in the location’s history. Ketton Stone is known by all in the area; a high quality limestone used for building and sculpture since the 16th Century and the material that built the local towns as well as glorious buildings more further afield. The historic quarry in Ketton that gives birth to this fabulous material has two faces; the most obvious as the modern industrial quarry, the source of building stone and lime for cement. The old quarry is the second, now a nature reserve and site of special scientific interest, left to rewild.

 This offers a beautiful contrast that parallels the material itself – the perfectly square chiselled stones against the waste rocks, now delaminating, left for nature to reclaim. This idea has been used to create the garden. The upper section is linear and modern - perfectly crafted and practical yet reflecting of the beautiful local material. As you move through the garden the incredible wild side of the space emerges. The delamination lines of the stone have been used to shape the natural paths, twisting, turning and cutting through the garden around rocks and trees.

 The use of grasses in the new design also reflects the concept. Structural, architectural and upright near the house but softening and wilding to meadow as the natural garden takes over.