Sandbank - Contemporary Costal Garden 2024-2026
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The project at Sandbank, although the planting is nearing its second full season, began much earlier, while the house was still just a plan on the developer’s desk.
The owners of the property had the foresight to let me get to know the site while there was little more than a concrete base laid on foundation piles secured into the bedrock.
This allowed me, at an early stage, to absorb the complexity and specific nature of the site, which was both physically and environmentally challenging.
A great deal of research followed, including a trip up the east coast to Cromarty on the Black Isle in the camper van with my trusty collie, Juna, simply to see which plants were thriving and precisely what their micro-environments were within these extreme north-easterly coastal conditions. This is where acute observation of plants growing in their natural landscape becomes invaluable to the success of many of my gardens.
Much of the ground was temporarily landscaped to allow ease of building construction. It was not until a few weeks before I was scheduled to design the final grading of the ground and the special designation of the various ‘rooms’ within the garden that the final amount of earth was put in place and tracked in by the developers.
It was quite an intense few months leading into the autumn of 2024. Unusually for me, I designed not on paper but directly on the ground, laying out canes and using lots of white marker spray to define the landscaping.
This included wide shrubbery and trees to form a coastal wind shelter belt, enveloping the property from the westerly entrance and continuing along the steepening slopes on the northern and eastern flanks.
A faux pebble ‘beach’ extended out from the already-laid slate patio running along the lower level of the house, curving to mirror the shape of the coastal bay it appeared to hover above. An ‘infinity’ beach!
The spoil from this pebbled area was skilfully employed by my trusted groundwork team to create additional, safer and flatter areas of lawn for walking and playing before the ground fell away steeply towards an area of coastal meadow grass and flowers.
I was keen to complete the movement of earth and hard landscaping materials, including the soil mix for the raised-bed terracing on the southern side of the property, the pebbles for the beach and driftwood planters, turf, and around 1,000 coastal shrubs and trees, before the early winter was upon us.
And we did it!
It remains a work in progress, although I am exceptionally pleased with how beautifully it is already maturing.
“Every detail was thoughtfully executed. We're thrilled with the outcome.”
— Rosemary and Brian Mackenzie
Here's Sandbank in June 2026.
The planting has been carefully built up in layers over time, allowing the garden to establish naturally. Many of the plants are chosen to self-seed, creating an ever-changing landscape that continues to evolve each year.
The meadow is looking particularly beautiful this season, with the striking spires of viper's bugloss alongside one of my absolute favourites, sea campion.
The terrace is now full of colour, and the shrubs, although only around eighteen months old, are already beginning to make a real impact.
