Awarded RHS Silver Gilt Medal
Designer: Peter Reader
Construction and Sponsor: Living Landscapes

'Al Fresco' was designed as a modern outdoor living room. The clean lines, spaces for entertaining and dining and the facilities for cooking were complemented by good size planting beds, some of which were raised to add structure and for ease of maintenance. This was designed to be a garden that would serve as a real outside living space, but also would be great for someone who really enjoyed gardening as well. 
The hard landscape heart of the garden was a rendered pillar which contained a 'Clearview' wood burning stove (for heat on those chilly summer evenings), an elegant blade water feature which tumbled into a small pool, a beautiful galvanised steel wall sculpture by artist Nick Moran and finally at the back a log store for the stove. There were 4 good sized planting beds which contained not only a profusion of colour from grasses and perennials, but also three small Olive trees and a mixture of herbs to use in the kitchen and at the dining table. Behind the central pillar, but in easy sight of the table and entertaining spaces was a state of the art gas barbecue on which barbecuing and more complex cooking and preparation could be undertaken. Finally, the chunky solid oak pergola pulled the whole garden together and provided height and a lovely framing for the dining area. The addition of this traditional material and building technique also provided the garden with a feel of age and gravitas despite its otherwise modern appearance.