The garden is divided into two halves that differ in mood and form. One is ruled by geometry and strong lines and the other by the pastoral and natural.
Woodland Walk
Woodland Walk
Location
Solnechnoe, Saint Petersburg
Plot size
8 000 m²
Year
2016
The location is in St. Petersburg’s Kurortny district, on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, and surrounded by hundred-year-old pine trees. The setting itself makes it unique and the magnificent house is another undeniable asset that melds seamlessly into the surrounding environment.
In a Nutshell
Our main objective was to bring the house and the natural world together.
The contemporary lines of the house contrast with the natural setting, which formed the starting point for the project. We wanted the plants to emphasise the house and highlight the architecture but we also wanted to ensure that the house appeared at one with nature, as though melting into it. So we structured the landscaping to strike a contrast between the architecture and the natural environment in a spirit of harmonious coexistence.The Garden
As the garden approaches the house, the architecture dominates the conversation, dictating the shapes and sizes of the plants in large planted areas that match the house, clipped into shapes to emphasise the contours of the building. Polygons of perennials and low cropped bushes resonate with the concrete flagstones in front of the house, serving as a link between the geometric paving and the natural forest. The trimmed firs, hawthorns, ninebark and spirea plants at the entrance and rear of the property appear to spar with the wild pines, sycamores and rowan trees. Even the undulating grasses planted amongst
Slightly further from the house lies an unadorned natural space. Here, we have ‘helped’ the forest by inserting variety and augmenting with bracken, lily-of-the-valley, heather, lingonberry and other plants that mimic forest plants. and we have enriched the woodland with new textures, colours and simple flowers.
The part of the forest visible from the house has been supplemented with hazel, viburnum, sorbaria and bracken. Sections with the original forest vegetation intact have been left untouched, while the forest floor destroyed during reconstruction is being gradually and naturally restored beneath a carpet of fallen pine needles.