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More and more people are becoming aware of the importance of meadows for wildlife and the beauty, interest and sense of peace and connection to the landscape they can bring to a garden.

Creating your own meadow can be a bit daunting, but we can help design a garden meadow that works for you.

These native wildlife havens have declined at an alarming rate in recent years. As the charity PlantLife says: “It took around 6,000 years to create the species-rich grassland for which the UK is globally famous, yet in less than a century we have lost 97%. And counting…”

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to be on nutrient-poor soil or chalk downland to grow a successful meadow. There are many different types of native grassland and arable farmland habitats that can be loosely grouped as meadows and that can be recreated in a garden setting.

Resilience, sustainability and regeneration were the themes driving the design of this show garden that won Best in Show and Gold at RHS Hampton Court.

Betteshanger Colliery, a former coal mine in Kent, was the inspiration for Green Seam, a garden Beth created with friend and fellow designer Stuart Charles Towner shortly after they graduated in 2015.

Celebrating East Kent’s mining heritage, the garden depicted the transformation of the former colliery site into a green seam of sustainability and hope. The black wall – created from coal waste collected from the former colliery sites – and rusty structures contrasted strongly with a green, pink and white planting scheme.

Pioneer plant species were used in the garden to show how wildflowers and trees can colonise apparently hostile environments such as spoil heaps, transforming them into places of beauty.

This ancient house and its oak-framed barn occupy a spectacular setting in a dry chalk downland valley in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Its new owners were keen to honour the Grade II-listed property’s rich history, while updating a garden that had become very overgrown.

We were able to retain mature and characterful trees, while creating new spaces for relaxation and entertaining. A traditional formal stone terrace provides the link between house and garden that the property was lacking. And a second simple circular terrace of poured concrete creates a more informal sunken dining space accessed from a new kitchen in an updated 1950s extension.

Our client is an avid gardener and had already set about creating a large-scale fruit and vegetable garden. Between this and the main garden, we designed a sweep of colourful ornamental meadow that leads you up to an existing apple orchard, where wild native meadows are now being developed, creating important habitat for wildlife.