With a steep bank and stunning views, this newbuild plot in Winchester was an irresistible challenge for designer Stuart Charles Towner. The recently built family home has amazing rural views from all four floors, but the L-shape garden failed to match up. Mainly lawn with a small, paved patio along the rear of the house, its biggest feature was an unimaginatively planted steep bank. Dominating the space and looming over the only seating area, it awkwardly cut across the garden, resulting in a very disjointed feel. “The main aim of the new design was to address a steep and badly planted section of the garden, creating a visually appealing feature that is incorporated into the rest of the garden,” explains Stuart. “We also needed to address the overly exposed sunny rear of the house, creating some dappled shade for the ground floor windows.” Multiple seating areas and a large lawn for football were high on the owner’s wish list along with sections of dreamy planting to tie in with the rural landscape beyond. The challenge was on...

Creating an outdoor space that works for everyone was key to this project and the owners worked closely with Stuart for over six months to finalise the design. While the main area of lawn was allocated for play and views of the Royal Winchester Golf Course beyond, new areas of paving were created next to the house. A main terrace for entertaining occupies the area outside the kitchen and a second, smaller paved area was located immediately outside the back door. “This terrace is created as a more intimate space for casual use,” explains Stuart. Positioned to make the most of the sun, it links to the main rear terrace via a series of stepping stones adding to its secret, secluded feel. Beyond this favourite seating spot, a set of feature steps cuts through the steep bank, leading to the property’s side gateway. “Not just a functional feature, granting year-round access to the side gate, the steps help to break up the mass and dominance of the bank,” explains Stuart. “Surrounded by planting on all sides, the new steps allow the steep slope to be regraded, softening the gradient further and reducing the impact.” Another secluded seating area with a firepit, designed for parents only, was tucked into a far corner of the garden. “With access via a bark mulch path through the planting, this quiet corner is designed for escaping with inbuilt seating for convenience and space for a firepit,” Stuart adds.

Finding a reliable and trusted contractor was simple. Stuart has known Wayne Brans, director of Landscapes4Living for over 15 years and, having worked on numerous past projects together, knew he would deliver outstanding results. “The selection of a contractor is never easy, as to trust someone to bring a garden to life is quite daunting, especially considering the investment being made,” says Stuart. “Wayne and his team’s ability to listen always ensures that the best outcome is achieved.” Work started in spring, to coincide with drier weather. First the existing terraces and planting were cleared followed by the excavation of the terraced areas and steps. “The existing terrace by the house was in a cheap, unattractive paving,” explains Stuart. “We removed the paving, but because the clients wished to have a level threshold with their bifold doors, minimal excavation was needed for the terraces, reducing the spoil removed from site. The new terrace foundation was formed with blockwork and poured concrete with porcelain paving laid on top.” Installing the slab steps required careful preparation and expertise. Metre-long poured concrete reinforced piles were drilled into the ground for each step with a poured concrete foundation capping them off. The Schellevis steps were then sat on top with a slight fall to allow water runoff. “Having a contractor who is prepared and able to handle such large units is key,” says Stuart. “Suction lifting pads and diggers enabled easy movement of them around the site and precision placing.” A low voltage lighting system by In-Lite was chosen to cast a pool of light onto the steps. “High quality fittings, they come with adjustable ‘eyelids’ to ensure no upward glare,” Stuart explains. The clients had an unobstructed and open view over the golf course, which was lovely but had little focus. “Too much of one thing can be a hindrance,” shares Stuart. “By introducing an industrial pergola and planting, you start to create framed, layered views out into the garden and wider landscape. Each one is a small vignette that focuses your eye.” Constructed from powder-coated steel, the uprights are linked with stainless-steel wires for climbing hops (Humulus lupulus) to cling to.

Keen to increase the plot’s biodiversity and echo the surrounding countryside, Stuart put together a carefully layered planting plan. While the bold, structural feature plants and blocks of clipped topiary form the backbone of the garden, adding much-needed height and shade, a softer tier of shrubs and grasses adds tactile movement and contrast. The result is a naturalistic look that is full of colour and seasonal interest and that also brings the wider landscape right up to the house. “The garden is very sunny and exposed, so the plants needed to be robust and deal with potentially dry and windy conditions, yet bring colour and drama,” explains Stuart. “Spring bulbs such as tulips, followed by late spring alliums, kick off the growing season, while the lush green foliage of many of the perennials fill in around them and between the evergreen shrubs, brachyglottis, viburnum and hebe.” When it comes to adding colour, soft blue-purple, white and lime-green mingle to create a restful sea of blooms that recedes gently into the surrounding countryside. Consisting largely of catnip, salvia and towering phlomis, they encourage insects, provide invaluable food for bees and give weeks of constant colour. Grasses such as moor grass and Stipa ichu weave among the perennials and shrubs adding movement and contrast to the neat blocks of clipped elaeagnus and yew. The transformation is breathtaking. Now soft layers of planting add colour and texture and merge effortlessly into the rolling landscape beyond. Secluded seating areas are nestled among the plants while the feature steps add simple form and practicality. “The garden now is a world away from before,” smiles Stuart. “A place to sit, socialise and enjoy, it’s totally revitalised how the owners see and use their outdoor space.”

© 2025 Moderns Gardens

Unashamedly bold and packed with brilliant design ideas, this Hampshire garden impresses all year round. The work of Stuart Charles Towner, and named Skyfall by the Bond fan, the challenge was to create a low-maintenance garden from a sloping plot, that would echo the newly built home’s stunning architecture. “The owners wanted a garden that reflected the design of their award-winning home, creating flexible entertaining spaces on a difficult sloping site,” explains Stuart. “They also wanted a space that suits their outdoor lifestyle and a covered kitchen area that they could use year-round.” Occupying a large rectangular plot, the rear of the house enjoys views of the garden and also the surrounding countryside from several floors. With three different viewpoints, all from the upper floor living areas, Stuart knew the aerial layout and planting were just as important as the outlook from ground level. “It was key to create a journey through the garden that encouraged the owners to get out and engage with it as well as taking full advantage of the stunning views out over Winchester and the rolling downs of the South Downs National Park,” says Stuart.

With the owners yet to move in and a tricky downward slope to work with, Stuart knew the space called for a complete rethink. “When I first viewed the garden, it was a tangle of large shrubs, brambles, badly planted fruit trees, and a couple of large sheds thrown in for good measure.” Working closely with the owners, the plan was for the upper part of the garden to be an open area with flexible entertaining space, while the lower section became more private, as it has the benefits of the afternoon and evening sun. Linking the property’s upside-down layout with the garden was also important. This was done by establishing three key focal points. Stuart explains the technique: “We created a long vista from the first-floor kitchen to the bottom of the garden; a shorter vista from the dining room to a mid-point in the garden; and from the central windows and balcony, a view of the new upper lawn and the dramatic feature wall.” The garden was built by Landscapes 4 Living over a five-month period. Stuart says: “I have known Wayne [Brans, the founder] and his guys for over 10 years, and they are always my first port of call with projects, as I know the clients will get the garden they are dreaming of and value for money.” Stuart adds: “The build process is always going to be a rough ride from day one as the landscaper strips the garden back, peeling back the layers ready for the stitching together and creation of the new garden. Thankfully, the weather played ball for this project.” The landscaping team broke ground early summer, tackling all the earth moving and groundworks, while taking advantage of the cooler, wetter autumn months for planting.

All steps and retaining walls throughout the garden use a matching black brick to the house, capped with the light limestone paving. Either side of the firepit on the main terrace, planting defines the edge of the terrace, marking the change in level. This careful approach and clever use of contrasting materials is continued in Stuart’s planting. “The planting of the garden is as much a story of two halves as the design, with the feature wall creating the physical break point,” he explains. The main planting on the upper and lower sections of the garden has been treated slightly differently. The upper section is clean, simple and controlled, while the lower section of the garden, which is a more intimate space, has an added layer of grasses, self-seeding foxgloves, and ferns mixed together in bold drifts. “A wild and shaggy solution to an otherwise crisp scheme, it also needs little maintenance,” explains Stuart. Hedges throughout the garden underpin the design’s clean lines, while upright yew columns add further structure and height, softening the dramatic feature wall.

The design wasn’t without its challenges though, as Stuart explains: “A storage building of some description had to be created, due to the lack of storage within the house and no garage, and thanks to the property’s upside-down layout, it was going to be clearly visible from the house, no matter where it was placed. “To soften the blow of viewing a ‘shed’ in such a clean, crisp scheme, a cedar-clad, sedum-roofed box was designed to mimic the house. By not trying to disguise it and by echoing the architecture, the shed becomes part of the fabric of the hard landscaping and not an afterthought.” There’s no denying that this garden has impact, and although different areas have distinct personalities, there is an underlying structure of bold, clean lines that run throughout. A tactile steel sculpture by South African artist Regardt Van Der Meulen stands in front of the wall, casting ever-changing shadows, with its fragments linking to the leafy outlook seen through the wall’s opening. Lit at night, with shadows playing off the feature wall, it’s the ideal finishing detail to a spectacular garden.

© 2025 Moderns Gardens

Interior designer Lella Vignelli once said, "I listen to what the space says-the walls the windows. You can't change what space wants to be." In the Winchester garden he designed, Stuart Charles Towner applied the same principle and was guided by his clients' love of minimalism, by the houses architecture, and by its environs. Once he discovered what the garden aspired to be, he lifted materials and a colour palette from the existing brickwork, exterior cladding, flooring, and doors, which he echoed in the textures of the planting. As a result, the garden looks and feels in tandem with the house.

The dramatic focal point of the garden Stuart Charles Towner designed in Winchester, England, is a visual verse; a steel rendering of an imaginary wind scattering a life-size woman into leaves. Inside the house, another lyrical gesture, an eighty-year old olive tree, commands a sky-lit glass-enclosed courtyard adjacent to the living room designed by architects as AR design Studio. The apparent role reversals-a sculpture of a person who is at one with nature and a domesticated tree planted inside a vitrine-are appropriate given the house's inverted space planting.

Similar to properties taking advantage of beach or ocean views, the home's bedrooms are on the ground floor, while its entrance hall, living room, dining room and kitchen are upstairs. Like traditional French parterres, Towner's landscape is meant to be primarily appreciated from above. Thanks to an expanse of windows and glass rails around a large balcony, the top floor the house takes in an unobstructed vista of sky, garden, sculpture, historic church spires, and a distant national park. Charles Towner knew the garden couldn't compete with the houses strong geometry. His intuition was to keep things simple. When he began to draw up a plan, he decided to make a few brushstrokes-all of them deliberate, and one or two of them grand.

At the garden level, where the cantilevered roof already shaded a dining terrace, Towner extended the floor and installed limestone pavers that morph into a wide staircase and lead to a stepped seating area around a sunken fire pit.

Beyond the hardscape, an expanse of lawn, his largest gesture, stops short of a proscenium-like wall where the regal sculpture stands. For Charles Towner, the sea of green mirrored the house's mass and gave the statement architecture space to breathe. As the grass is mown diagonally, it resembles a living room's wall-to-wall, broad-stripped carpet. Long pathways and low yew hedges border the lawn on both sides, and in certain light, their axial alignment renders the garden as a drop-shadow of the house. The feature wall's rectangular window functions like a camera's viewfinder, aimed to capture the property's central axis. From the front side, it frames a canopy of two multi stemmed juneberry trees. From behind, it focuses on the horizontality and transparency of the light-filled house.

As he does in every garden he designs, Charles Towner took into account the house's proportions, and here he also keyed off the architecture's materials and colours. The extensive interior brickwork found its way onto the stair risers, low retaining walls, and planters filled with rough horsetails, whose tiny dark brown bands mimic the cedar siding. The brick's grey colour echoes the internal doors and porcelain flooring and, in a heavily pigmented iteration, it repeats on the gardens feature wall.

The perimeter's mix of silver-berry and yew hedges shoes seasonal changes. The blooms on echinacea, foxgloves, and bearded irises come and go, but their decaying stems and seed heads survive until midwinter, as seams in the dried grasses turn a shade of golden brown and integrate the house and garden into the greater landscape.

© Linda O-Keefe