Deal is a charming seaside town situated on the southeast Kent coast. Bustling with independent shops, cafes, and galleries, it perfectly captures the character of a traditional, British seaside town. Deal is steeped in maritime history, it’s long stretch of pebble beach, tucked away fisherman’s cottages and historic architecture create a timeless coastal charm that inspired the design of this garden.
As with all our designs, the location is at the core of the design. A successful garden feels rooted in its natural landscape, taking inspiration from the local surroundings, while embracing the freedom to layer colour, texture and materials.
For this garden in Deal, the focus was to create a striking central feature. Used not only to separate and zone areas of the garden but also to create privacy. By taking inspiration from is seaside location, we looked at weathered materials that echo the textures and tones of the Kent coastline.
TIP 2- Consider the Colour and Tone of your Garden Materials
Where possible, always order samples before making a final decision and view them side by side. Looking at materials together is the best way to judge whether their colours and tones complement each other and create a cohesive palette. If you’re choosing natural stone, don’t forget to wet the sample under a tap. Stone can look completely different when it’s wet, so this is a great way to see how it will appear after rain and in different weather conditions.
Corten steel became the base of the design, bringing warmth, structure and height to the garden. The laser-cut leaf screens are our favourite feature. They allow light to pass through, casting patterned shadows while softening the industrial look of the steel. Inspired by nature, the pattern ties the whole design back to its garden setting, creating a balance between contemporary materials and the surrounding seaside planting. We also broke up the panels with planting, and by removing a central panel, it creates a journey to a secondary seating area and perfectly frames the seaside inspired seating area.
For the planting, we wanted to add height to complement the Corten structure. It was key to have coastal inspired, hardy perennials for this garden:
– Verbena bonariensis
– Echinacea purpurea
– Veronicastrum
– Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’
– Achillia
As well as perennials, we love to add grasses for texture and movement. For this garden we added:
– Calamagrostis × acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’
– Carex
– Stipa Tenuissima
– Deschampsia cespitosa
We have some amazing coastal gardens we have designed, ranging from the classic coastal look to more modern and sculptural design, find them here.
If you want to find out more about coastal garden planting and everything you need to inspire you. Mark has written a book all about it which you can buy here.
