This design is a great example of how hard landscaping in shades of grey and black can make planting really pop. The composite decking is environmentally-friendly and incredibly practical. It even looks great in the rain.

Timber sleepers were used to terrace the different levels of this sloping, city garden. The riven slate terrace at the bottom of the garden works well with the cedar shingle cladding on the summer house. Galvanised steel cattle troughs make perfect planters for a narrow space, and were also used to create a water feature within the border.

The planting is designed to be light and airy, and includes Alliums, grasses, roses, flowering shrubs and perennials, that provide colour through most of the year. Ferns, pheasant grasses and bamboos (in the troughs to prevent unwanted runners) give the garden structure. And the existing laurel tree was pruned and crown-lifted to give the space more light.