![Rich tapestry](https://cdn.magzter.com/1422872219/1682596962/articles/wd2JwLlNe1682669016188/RICH-TAPESTRY.jpg)
In the garden of this charming, stucco-fronted villa in London's fashionable Notting Hill, garden designer Butter Wakefield has combined her passions for design detail, sustainability and storied planting. The house was remodelled by architects Michaelis Boyd for a couple relocating from the USA, along with their four young children. The renovations included a basement extension for a new swimming pool, and so the first two-thirds of the plot were "a void" with a blank canvas of lawn in the rear section.
What the garden did have, unusually for London, were two matching, attractive, old boundary walls. A gate set into the rear wall opens on to a communal square, and this shared space means the garden isn't overlooked or shaded by houses at that end, making it brighter than many city gardens. It also provides a leafy borrowed landscape.
This story is from the May 2023 edition of Gardens Illustrated.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2023 edition of Gardens Illustrated.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
![STEPS TO SUCCESS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8833/1708876/IsLR0Aa0H1716465027220/STEPS-TO-SUCCESS.jpg)
STEPS TO SUCCESS
Enclosed within a rustic barn conversion, this courtyard garden contrasts riotous Mediterranean-inspired gravel planting with clean lines and a reflective pool
![ANNIE GUILFOYLE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8833/1708876/e2EIxi9Wj1716464833724/ANNIE-GUILFOYLE.jpg)
ANNIE GUILFOYLE
The garden polymath on the pleasures of passing on knowledge, the rewards of close observation and the circuitous route towards grounding her itchy feet
![HEAVEN SCENT](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8833/1708876/kveapN1yW1716464473452/HEAVEN-SCENT.jpg)
HEAVEN SCENT
As summer adds a new dimension to his garden, Nigel Slater reflects on the rewards of planting for perfume
![Colour therapy](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8833/1708876/tjbvnk40D1716463776224/COLOUR-THERAPY.jpg)
Colour therapy
Ann-Maree Winter's joyful Australian garden became a place of solace and nurture in hard times
![30 plants with interest all year](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8833/1708876/AbqLT7bnP1716462312763/30-PLANTS-WITH-INTEREST-ALL-YEAR.jpg)
30 plants with interest all year
These hard-working plants provide several seasons of interest in your garden through flowers, fruit, foliage, bark and even spring shoots
![PERFECT HARMONY](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8833/1708876/U87XcfuW01716461552401/PERFECT-HARMONY.jpg)
PERFECT HARMONY
Rosarian Michael Marriott and TV producer Rosie Irving have very different ideas on gardening, but they have discovered the secret to sharing a single plot amicably
![SUMMERFLOWERING ALLIUMS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8833/1708876/NFbOe9y0R1716460759401/SUMMERFLOWERING-ALLIUMS.jpg)
SUMMERFLOWERING ALLIUMS
Loved for their showy spheres, alliums have long been stalwarts of late spring, but now new introductions are extending the party through summer
![Faith in the future](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8833/1708876/zmA9_B7WZ1716460391082/FAITH-IN-THE-FUTURE.jpg)
Faith in the future
Marian Boswall's contemporary design for the garden of a former chapel respects the property's history while looking to the future
![Summertime at Sissinghurst](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8833/1708876/TydprowFz1716459419577/SUMMERTIME-AT-SISSINGHURST.jpg)
Summertime at Sissinghurst
Ensuring Sissinghurst’s famous roses look fabulous throughout the season is one of the many tasks keeping head gardener Troy Scott Smith and his team busy right now
![FRESH APPROACH](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8833/1708876/w2UqFuBc61716459099296/FRESH-APPROACH.jpg)
FRESH APPROACH
Colm Joseph’s design for this new garden, which surrounds a modern house within a heritage setting, uses clever planting to give a historic site a contemporary feel