Designer Chris Moss has used his own garden in Stockwell, south London, as a mood board.
Photography by Marcus Harpur.
Steps of painted concrete with brick lead from the area by the back door up to the garden proper. Shaded by the back of the house and neighboring walls, these areas can be dark and problematic.
The layout from upstairs reveals a typical long and narrow London terrace garden. Accepted wisdom says that one should wait a year when acquiring a new garden, to see what is actually in there, while avoiding rash decisions.
The restrained palette is matched by a hierarchy of materials, offset by geometric structure. And yet there is vitality, taking it beyond the design laboratory.
Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Alba’ dominates this area, with white nicotiana, purple salvia, and Verbena bonariensis and yellow Patrinia scabiosifolia.
a deep tub made of reclaimed rubber raises a colony of sempervivums off the ground; the gravel at ground level is repeated in the pot.
Chris reacted to the space he found, which was essentially a lawned rectangle surrounded by walls. Vegetables and densely packed perennials thrive in the sun on the other side of the path.
Neither black nor gray, but complementing the London brick.
Outside the kitchen door, a place to eat. Chris has integrated this area into the bigger garden by widening the steps and considering the view from the table.
A ground grid of black poured concrete crosses the consolidated gravel (also known as hoggin), creating a pause in the garden and a wider space.
No unraveled hoses or sacks of rubbish here, thank you.
“Up until now it has been difficult persuading clients to go along with these dark colors,” says Chris.