We’ve taken outdoor living a stage further in this show garden, building two ‘sofas’ and a beautiful fireplace.  And we’ve replaced the indoor patterned rug with a bold mosaic-style design on the floor.  Take a seat and enjoy the tranquillity of this garden.

The dominant plants here are the beautiful white hydrangeas.  These hardy shrubs will give plenty of frothy flowers year after year, often blooming from early July right through to the frosts in October.  The rest of the planting here is focused on providing an evergreen backdrop to your entertaining all year round.  The mirror cunningly throws more light back into the garden as well as increases the sense of space.

Our striking fireplace is built from slate slips over a block-work wall, which give a reassuring sense of solidity as well as providing great contrast with the plants and the stones used in our mosaic.  Slate looks good all year round but is one of those materials that actually looks even more vibrant when it’s wet.  Our fireplace doesn’t have a chimney or flue (as we don’t often light fires in it) but you would want to include one at home if you do want to use it as a working fireplace.

The smallest of our Show Gardens at just 35 metres square, the ideas and layout of the Living Room will easily adapt to even the smallest of gardens. Perhaps the ultimate in low maintenance, this is a garden definitely designed for those who like to enjoy nature from a sitting position!  What ideas will you take away for your own garden?