Remember our gold award-winning Sky Roof Garden?

It’s back and it’s REAL

Skyline Yorkshire Roof Garden – Gold Award at Harrogate Spring Flower Show in 2015

We are now on site just beyond the York city walls, translating our gold-award winning Harrogate Show Garden into the real thing for Helen and Tony Plowman.  Working on their redevelopment project in York since 2014, Helen tells us a little about the project:

This project is a development of our new home, adjacent to the York City wall, with a garage and a flat above and an additional house to complete the streetscape.  The design follows the footpath re-establishing a street pattern lost when the existing terrace was demolished and replace with a commercial garage back in the 1950s.  The building is set back from the retaining walls that support the abutment to the City Walls.  This opens up new vistas and created the opportunity to landscape adjacent to the walls.  We unearthed a stone wall lost behind the garages which has been repointed and restored in conjunction with York City Council and English Heritage.  Planning restrictions limited the height of the development to lower than the city walls and space limitations meant our roof garden idea was ideal.  It lifts the garden away from the street and enjoys better views and more sun than a garden at ground level.

The views down from the City walls were an important consideration in the garden’s design.  With the extensive roof garden and additional ground floor landscaping, 70% of the site is given to garden, where there was none before.

With special lightweight top soil, gravel paving and steps down, the garden now includes standard amelanchier trees and a purple beech hedge to divide the properties.  All of the elements of the original planting, all fully irrigated,  will start to develop over the Spring and Summer, with the bluey-purple borders of lavender and juniper partnering the pastel borders of hydrangea and campanula.

The bespoke stainless steel planters maintain their continuity with the show materials that now form the backbone of the new garden: The galvanised bench, stone paving and water feature.  For lush contrast, we have added Rolawn Gold Medallion turf.

We will return in the summer to catch the garden in its final glory.  Thanks to the Plowmans and Nick Fryer for design and construction.