Why TV garden designer Joe Swift has neither room, nor inclination, for a lawn in his own back yard
By Mark Anstead
Mention lawns to Joe Swift and you have to be prepared for the reaction. The 39-year-old Gardeners’ World presenter believes grass is an impractical surface and he knows he courts controversy for his views.
Nevertheless, he has designed his 50ft back garden in Stoke Newington, North London, without any turf at all and feels the result is better because it caters perfectly for all the family – children and adults alike.
“Lawns in small areas easily become psychological barriers,” he explains. “If it is wet you can’t go on it and if the kids run on it they bring dirt into the house and ruin the grass because they compact the surface. In my case, good lawns are hard work to maintain – they usually end up detracting from the overall beauty.”
There’s no compromise in his stance. Whenever he’s travelling by train it irks him to see row upon row of back gardens lying unused outside the summer months because the lawn is too wet.
By contrast, his own garden which combines a mix of beautiful Welsh slate and Brazilian hardwood decking, is used all year round, especially by his children Stanley, seven and Connie, five.
“Stanley usually kicks a ball around in the patio area,” he says, “which is fine because the plants at the edges are very robust and usually bounce back if accidentally hit. Whereas Connie likes looking at the flowers or playing on the decking. And they both love chalking on the slate, drawing massive pictures.”
The blue-grey slate looks particularly beautiful after it has rained when the colour deepens and the distinctive veining stands out.
He has used the slate to frame a shimmering, raised fish pond, which provides additional seating for adults when he and his wife Cathy, a lawyer, have friends round for a barbecue. The family moved to the house 18 months ago in search of additional space and they encountered a neglected back garden that had been left to the weeds.
Joe first concentrated on adding an extension in the back of the house, after which he turned his attention to the outdoors. He worked on a design and then employed his own staff to do the construction.
He estimates it would normally cost about £15,000 to achieve but, since he was able to use materials at cost price and obviously didn’t charge his own design consultancy, he managed to do it for just over £10,000.
The result is typical of a contemporary classic approach: halfway down is a raised bed which runs across the full width of the garden, seemingly blocking access to the rear decking area.
It is only as you move closer you see he has positioned wooden steps diagonally across the bed, preferring to “create movement” than succumb to the predictable straight path and sharp lines. The decking supports scaffolding which he can cover with tarpaulin on a hot day to create shade.
Swift is the son of a writer mother, Margaret Drabble, and actor father (Clive Swift played Hyacinth Bucket’s husband in TV’s Keeping Up Appearances) and has been landscaping and gardening ever
since he dropped out of art college and travelled to Australia.
It was his experiences there that gave him a passion for integrating more of the outdoors into the English lifestyle.
He is really excited about involving his children in planting and garden maintenance. Far from seeing children as a distraction when he is rushing to get a job done. He actively encourages their help. “It’s really important to get children involved,” he says.
“I started gardening with my mum and grandparents, and if you start young it stays with you for ever. It’s like learning a new language – my kids know the names of plants that would leave some of my clients scratching their heads.
“So many children nowadays are in front of their PlayStation, TV or computer all day and entertainment is laid on for them. Mine do those things as well, but they also spot the wildlife, dig up worms and put them back again and take a look at the fish. They love to be outside and that’s very healthy.”
As well as filming and designing bespoke gardens, he has a new business, Modular Garden, supplying gardens at fixed prices. He’s now working with Bellway Homes to offer affordable gardens with new properties at its Milton Keynes development, Mountview.
“It should be as easy as buying a car,” he says. “The customer should be able to say what extras they want and get a fixed price. We’re combining design and construction under one roof so we know what it will cost.”
