Gardens: The Edinburgh town house garden that looks good from above - as well as the ground

From its box hedge mini maze to slate path and woodland area, this Edinburgh town house garden has been designed with the view from above – as well as from the ground – in mind

ALISON Boyes happily admits that the south-facing garden behind the Edinburgh town house she shares with her husband Andrew was designed to be viewed from the first floor kitchen window. This is where she spends most of her time and is the place from which she enjoys the garden the most.

Although the space is easily reached through French windows in the basement, which open onto a half-moon stone terrace furnished with a table and chairs, and backed with a pair of curved, stone benches, she is realistic about Edinburgh’s climate. “We probably sit down there a handful of times each summer,” she says, adding that the surrounding buildings cast their shade on the space by the afternoon in mid-summer.

The inspiration for a garden intended to “be looked down on from above,” was prompted by a quote in a magazine. The plan was easier to implement because of the couple’s decision not to include play space for their children, who, as Alison points out have plenty of room to run around in nearby communal gardens. “If we had factored in the children the space would have been filled with a trampoline.”

When the couple bought the house two years ago, the garden consisted of a small lawn enclosed by herbaceous and shrub beds reached via a concrete and paving patio. To put her ideas in to practice, she sought the help of landscape designer, Dugal McLeod. “Because there is no access to the garden other than through the basement, we were advised to have the garden landscaped while the house was being renovated,” she says.

After much discussion about family needs and time for maintenance, Dugal evolved a plan to divide the garden into three different parts, linked by a common foliage theme. The concrete patio was to be replaced with stone slabs and would lead on to a woodland area, planted for shady conditions, and threaded with a slate path winding down to the end of the garden. “The different themes help to give the feel of a much larger garden, while making the most of the changing seasons.”

The background structure of the planting relies on a variety of different evergreens including Fatsia japonica, Choisya Aztec Pearl, pale pink Camellia japonica Fleur de Pecher, creamy, Magnolia grandiflora Galissonniere the latter chosen for “their big waxy green leaves, which are tan underneath,” alongside Skimmia, Hebe, Bamboo and Pieris.

Spring and autumn colour comes from Acers, especially: A palmatum Bloodgood, Trompenburg, Seiryu and Aureum and A dissectum Red Dragon and palmatifidium. Red dogwood stems take centre stage in winter and are succeeded in spring and summer by blue and white Libertia grandiflora, Veronica gentiodes and Brunnera macrophylla.

Dugal also added clouds of his favourite woodland plant, Galium macrophylla: “It actively creates a carpet of early summer white flowers under the mini forest of acers – it doesn’t seem to choke any other plants except annual weeds and is very easy to lift as sheet and place where you want it. Doing this helps it to spread.”

Removal and introduction of materials through the house was tricky, but done in conjunction with the renovation disruption was kept to a minimum. “We design to utilise as much of what exists as possible so we take out very little indeed. Generally it’s a case of importing new materials and plants,” says Dugal.

Concrete was laid as foundation for paths and patios, and to create drainage in the bench planters: here the old turf was used as topsoil. Alison was amused to find that even weeds were put to good use. Dugal removed nettles, dandelions and docks for use in his 2010 show garden at Ingliston. “Naturalised gardens are becoming more and more established as an approach, and we are basically saying that there is a place for weeds and concrete.”

The penultimate space is reserved for the circular maze, an unusual and unexpected feature intended to reward a walk to the far end of the garden. Laid out with low box hedging enclosed with a slender walkway of hardwood deck boards this design delivers an open, crisp contrast to the informal woodland area. “The neat outline of box helps you feel you are on top of the maintenance even if other edges and verges are wild and woolly,” Dugal says, adding that “the maze shape also adds interest when viewed from second and third floors within the property.”

Working on the garden resulted in stimulating discussions as Alison and Dugal debated items such as paint colour for the curved benches and whether to retain the giant fuschia arch over the newly laid terrace. The choice of dark blue with grey undertones for the benches “which shows off all colours from green to pink, while giving a fresh, contemporary feel,” was ultimately agreed upon but the fate of the fuschia hangs in the balance.

Such debates, Dugal stresses, are important to achieve good results. “One of the skills I bring to projects is the ability to see a finished garden at the very start, which means I can see how it will work.” In this case the scheme has created an intriguing, textured canopy that provides hours of interest when viewed from above.

“Having a clear vision of the whole project is so important to successful implementation as is an open ear to other ideas and options. If something becomes uncertain, work with it and around it until such time as it becomes more certain.”

• Dugal McLeod (07881 426 182, www.dugdigs.co.uk)