This sustainable, practical front garden with winter-interest planting was designed for the RHS London Plant and Design Show in February 2010. It was awarded a Silver medal. Solstice comes from the Latin 'solstitium' meaning 'sun stands still.' In this garden the sun has stood still and touched plants with its orange glow or else cast its shadow on purplish foliage and flowers. Bright blues provide the glinting highlights.
The north-facing side of the garden features the scented witch hazel Hamamelis x intermedia 'Pallida' on the pavement edge. It is underplanted with purple leaved Euphorbia 'Blackbird' to provide contrast and combined with Helleborus hybridus 'Best Yellow' and drifts of deep blue Iris reticulata 'Pixie' and purple Iris histrioides 'George.' The red stems of Cornus alba 'Sibirica' provide the backdrop and contrast with the dark green yew hedge behind.
The sunny south-facing side of the garden features a boundary of stepover apple trees and Rosmarinus 'Miss Jessop's Upright' with the contrasting mound shape and deep purple leaves of Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Tom Thumb.' There are golden leaved alpine strawberries Fragaria vesca 'Golden Alexandra' and the copper-red leaved grass Uncinia unciniata. There is a beehive with a sedum roof (which could be used as a real beehive or else as a decorative composter or recycling storage bin) surrounded by an informal low hedge of Lophomyrtus 'Black Pearl.
The garden was awarded a silver medal by the RHS judges.
The design incorporates a parking space for a G-Wiz electric car and an outdoor socket for recharging it. The paving is SureSet resin-bound paving which is permeable, allowing water to soak through rather than running off. This complies with current SUDS (Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems) legislation, whereby planning permission is required for a front driveway if it is to be made of impermeable materials and is over 5 square metres in area.
This corner of the garden features the coppery-red Hamamelis x intermedia 'Ruby Glow' and the brilliant orange winter leaves of Nandina domestica. The reddy-orange stems of Cornus 'Midwinter Fire' contrast with more drifts of blue Iris reticulata.
