Family House

Together Outside.

My clients wanted a new family garden at their Kent home. The house was being refurbished and they wanted their garden to reflect the new style of the interiors. I worked closely with Interior Designer George Cougias (www.interiordesigngeek.com) to develop the design, picking up on materiality, colour palette and vintage finishes.

The Brief

Create a practical and welcoming garden for everyday family life and relaxed entertaining.

The Garden

A transformed outdoor space that is more usable and connected to the home, with vintage styling cues from inside the house.

Developing the concept | Space planning

Exploring the space and maximising its potential with hand drawn sketches.

Moodboards and reference images help bring style & materials to life.

Design development | Layouts

Scale layouts showing hard landscaping materials & planting locations. A detailed planting plan will come later.

Preparing for build | Technical specifications

Technical pack to support tendering process and guide construction | Key measurements, Lighting & Electrical

Design Details

  • Pavers.

  • Stone.

  • Lights.

  • Lights.

  • Lights.

  • Lights.

  • Bespoke Pergola

  • Clay Pavers

  • Sawn Sandstone paving

  • Dining terrace

  • Bespoke gate.

Planting design

A low maintenance planting plan with Trees, Shrubs, Perennials & Grasses.

Includes detailed schedule & specimen list.

Built.

Hard landscaping and pre-winter planting for this garden was completed in October 2025.

Further planting will be undertaken in Spring.

The Build

  • Clearance.

  • Clearance.

  • Demolition.

  • Tree care.

  • Preparation.

  • New beds

  • New paving

  • Hard landscaping.

  • Hard landscaping.

  • Details.

  • Planting

  • Gravel Garden

  • Plant delivery

“Our back garden was a real challenge and not somewhere we enjoyed spending any time. Mark completely reimagined the space, pushing us gently to trust the design process, and the results are incredible!

The garden now has structure, texture and a real sense of calm, with beautiful planting that will only get better over time. It’s been brilliant to see the design come to life, and we’re already working with Mark again on our front garden. We couldn’t have asked for a better result.”

— Client Feedback

Project credits

Design & Project Management | Mark Hardy Design

Landscaping Contractor | Hythe Garden Landscapes

Planting Design | Mark Hardy

Electrics | ME Electrical

Plant Supply | Provender Nurseries

Tree Supply | Meadow Grange Nurseries

Paving | London Stone

Pergola | Round Wood of Mayfield

Corten gate | Paddock Fencing

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