When the writer Daisy Garnett and her husband, Nick Pearson, bought their Georgian house in Brixton, south London, in 2007 the garden initially looked like a verdant utopia.
Photography by Clare Coulson.
But as they began to strip away the overgrowth they soon realized that the lushness was all ivy and that many of the trees, including a copper beech, were long since dead.
Daisy, a former staff writer at both British and American Vogue, describes herself as “a total novice” when she started to rework the garden, but she had grown up in a big garden and that had instilled a deep sense of horticultural preferences.
The garden is based around roses.
A zinc-topped table (bought from Petersham Nurseries) is the focal point of the dining area, which is shaded with a vine and a Noisette rose which flowers all summer and into autumn.
Astrantia ‘Shaggy’ flourishes in the shade of the mulberry tree.
After starting out with a fastidious palette, she has allowed more plants to filter in: “I would have pulled out the wild purple foxgloves in the past and only had white ones but now I let them grow.” Ditto the vivid yellow flowers of fennel or the peachy blooms of Verbascum ‘Southern Charm’.
Many of the impressive architectural features came courtesy of her parents who sold their Somerset house, Cannwood, to downsize in 2010.
The herbaceous mix is given an added layer of interest with grasses including Miscanthus sinensis Variegata (seen above), as well as Briza media and Stipa tenuissima.
The lean-to greenhouse was installed by builders during renovation work to the house.
A generous display of pots clusters around the house. In spring pots are filled with tulips, hyacinths, and narcissi which are then planted into the garden.
Copper pots are filled with a classic Sarah Raven mix of Anagallis Monellii ‘Sky Lover’, Argyranthemum Madeira Cherry Red, and Pelargonium Attar of Roses.
A mini thyme lawn, inspired by Sissinghurst, thrives under a clipped bay tree despite the shady conditions.
Every winter Daisy takes on one (or two) major projects—this year she extended the borders to create a new narrow entrance onto the lawn, which is framed with urns and stone obelisks.