This garden in Islington started life as a dank courtyard, with a large raised bed dominated by mature trees and high walls. The clients wanted a distinctive and plant-led new garden design. We decided that a Japanese-influenced space was an ideal solution. Leaf fall from the existing mature trees meant we had to avoid traditional Japanese raked gravel.

The trees on the upper level were cut back and we underplanted them with small Japanese acers, azaleas and varieties of Japanese forest grass. On the lower level, an irregular paddle-stone path leads to a small bench with boulders, cloud-pruned evergreens and dwarf bamboos. A little boggy area that supports a clump of Japanese water iris.