A Modern Urban Oasis

Maxine Brady has overhauled her overgrown outdoor space to create a modern urban oasis with a dash of Moroccan style. To own a beautiful garden that she and dog Teddy could enjoy all summer long has always been Maxine Brady’s dream. But unfortunately she had a little way to go before she could crack open the Pimm’s. ‘My new house had been left empty for seven years, and the garden was very overgrown,’ she explains. ‘ ere was a climbing plant so big and heavy it had pulled the fences down, which had nearly rotten away, and I couldn’t even push the back door open as the weeds had sealed it shut! It was so awful that I didn’t dare go out there for the rst year.’ Inspiration eluded Maxine on what seemed like an impossible task until she went to Morocco on holiday – and the ideas started to ow. ‘I visited the Yves Saint Laurent gardens in Marrakech and immediately fell in love with the outdoor spaces, all decorated with tiles, pergolas and plants in large pots,’ she recalls. ‘I came home and couldn’t wait to get started.

Maxine hired her friend and landscape gardener ea Pritchard – who she met while working on TV show Love Your Garden – to help transform the space. ‘Together, we worked on a layout that would get the most out of the awkward L-shape, carving up the space with planters, a pergola and di erent seating areas so I could follow the sun around the garden.’ However, Thea was also quick to point out a snag: ‘Originally, I wanted patterned tiles for the paving, says Maxine. ‘But thankfully she highlighted that they would be very slippy when wet – definitely more suited to Moroccan weather. So I went for a granite hexagonal design with a textured finish.’

to work clearing the garden, filling two skips with debris. ‘They even found part of an old Victorian iron bed buried in there,’ Maxine laughs. The space was then divided into two distinct areas to help with drainage, linked by a railway sleeper step. For a more streamlined look, Maxine opted for modern slatted fences, which she painted white to reflect light around the sunny garden. With the structure in place, she could concentrate on the planting. ‘I knew that the lovely tropical plants I saw in Morocco wouldn’t survive the English climate, so I decided to go for climbing plants, an olive tree and a few willows to soften the hard lines of the fencing.’ Maxine bought all of her plants and trees in the sale at her local garden centre, planting them in the autumn so they were bursting with life come spring.

‘All the hard work was done by summer’s end last year, but it wasn’t until March that I could finish the styling,’ she says. Maxine invested in weatherproof furniture online, and enlisted her mum to help plant more flowers and plants to add natural colour, and fill planters with herbs and salad leaves. ‘I wanted my garden to be as edible as possible,’ says Maxine. ‘It’s so nice to eat fresh produce that I’ve grown myself.’ Now her garden has been transformed, Maxine’s friends and family are ready to come round and enjoy the garden with her. ‘I can’t wait to throw open the doors and get everyone outside for dinner.’

sources: GoodHomes UK, August 2018