This ordinary back garden contains no lawn : the low-maintenance alternative has a circle of brick filled with pebbles with a 'ribbon' of larger cobbles weaving across the surface.

Planting here is bold and evergreen - huge phormiums, bamboos (Sasa veitchii and Fargesia nitida), a hardy banana, a pittosporum, hellebores, and a palm (Trachycarpus fortunei).

Colour is kept minimal to emphasize the structure.