I had a large, densely planted dead box hedge to remove. It partially blocked the view from the patio to the garden, including the Hellebore borders which look fantastic at this time of year.

The original Buxux plants were planted much too close together, in a perfectly straight line, so it’s no surprise the were killed by Blight and the Box Moth Caterpillar.

Once I had dug out the dead plants, and dug in multi purpose compst to the space, I planted low Pittosporum ‘Golf Ball’, Ilex meservea ‘Little Rascal’ and Juniperus squamata ‘Blue Carpet’, in a staggered pattern, with plenty of space between each plant.

Suddenly the garden looks integrated. You can see rhe lawn and borders, and can also enjoy the extra space of the patio when looking back from the lawn. The naturalistic planting matches rhe woodland and perennial borders, as opposed to the previous solid, formal structure.