Dorset Garden

A coastal garden on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, designed around the site’s maritime climate, strong light and salt-laden winds. Replacing an underused tennis court, the project created a new landscape centred around a gravel garden, wildflower meadow, natural swimming pool and pool house, seamlessly connected to the existing garden and wider coastal setting.

The planting was shaped by the site’s challenging conditions. Low-fertility, free-draining soils and a deep mineral mulch support a resilient palette of drought-tolerant trees, shrubs, grasses and perennials, selected to thrive with minimal irrigation and intervention. The garden’s subtly terraced landform responds to natural water movement across the site, creating a range of moisture conditions that support a diverse planting community.

Local Purbeck stone, quarried less than a mile away, is used throughout the project, grounding the garden in its setting while reducing transport impacts and embodied carbon. Drystone walls, meadow planting and a zero-chemical swimming pool contribute to a landscape designed to support biodiversity, reduce long-term inputs and age gracefully over time.

The result is a garden that feels both deeply rooted in its place and adapted to the environmental challenges of a changing climate.

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