Mediterranean Garden Design for a Victorian Terrace in Hackney, London
This Mediterranean garden design in Hackney, East London, shows how much a narrow, sloping city plot can hold. It now has a sheltered dining terrace, brick terraces full of scented planting and a path up to a new garden room, all with the relaxed feel of a Mediterranean courtyard. It was completed in summer 2025.
The brief
The owners had transformed their Victorian terrace with a striking contemporary extension and a new timber-clad garden room. The garden between them needed to do the same job: link old and new, and turn a narrow, multi-level plot into somewhere the family would actually want to spend time.
They asked for:
A relaxed, Mediterranean feel, with planting that looks as if it has naturalised on its own
Plenty of places to sit, eat and unwind
Low-allergen planting, which was a specific request
A garden that is easy to look after
As well as the rear garden, I also designed the front garden, and had design input into the garden room and the bike shelter, which has a meadow roof.
The Mediterranean garden design approach
The idea was a garden that looks as if it has seeded itself. Drought-tolerant planting with a long flowering season rises out of a pale gravel mulch, rather than sitting in neat, separate beds.
A single multi-stem Judas tree (Cercis) sits off centre, like a shade tree in a southern courtyard. A few carefully chosen boulders give a sculptural, permanent counterpoint to the loose planting, and double as somewhere to perch.
The low-allergen brief shaped the plant choices from the start. Ornamental grasses, which many naturalistic schemes rely on, were kept to a minimum. Grass-like plants such as Libertia were used instead, to give the same movement and texture with far less pollen.
Working with the levels
The garden steps up from the new kitchen to the garden room, and that change of level was the biggest design challenge. Rather than hiding it, I made it a feature.
Generous brick steps and terraced planters carry you up through the garden. They're built in Vande Moortel brick, from the same maker as the bricks on the new extension. The extension uses a dark purple-brown brick, so I chose a contrasting, warmer tone for the garden that suits the sandstone and the pale Mediterranean gravel. Thyme and rosemary trail over the edges to soften the brickwork, and low lights set into the risers guide the way after dark.
Bespoke sandstone stepping pads lead through the planting to the garden room. I selected each stone individually. They are split to give a naturally flat surface, ideal underfoot, and every edge keeps the stone's natural contours, so the path feels as though it belongs in the planting.
This is where detailed construction drawings really matter. Steps, retaining walls and planters on a slope have to be set out precisely, with levels, drainage and foundations all worked out before anyone starts digging. Before finalising the design, we also dug a test borehole to check the ground was free-draining, which Mediterranean planting needs to thrive. Happily, it was. My construction package gave the landscaper fully dimensioned setting-out plans, sections and details, so it could be priced accurately and built as designed.
The planting
The planting is all about colour, scent and texture, and it hums with bees all summer:
Scent and a silver palette: santolina, lavender and rosemary
Long-flowering colour: the blue of Geranium 'Rozanne' and spires of salvia
Architectural shapes: the stacked whorls of Phlomis
Year-round structure: Euphorbia and Libertia
Evergreen cover on the walls: Star Jasmine, trained on wires across the new brickwork, with a heady summer scent
Every plant was specified with its size and quantity, along with the soil improvements and gravel mulch, so nothing was left to guesswork on planting day.
A sheltered dining terrace
Just outside the kitchen doors, a sunken terrace is framed by the brick retaining walls, with a built-in bench along one side.
Raised planting on every side brings the flowers up to eye level when you're seated. Meals are taken surrounded by colour and scent, and the terrace feels sheltered and private, even in the middle of the city.
From concept to completion
At concept stage, I used a concept plan and 3D visuals to show the clients how the levels, terraces and planting would come together before anything was built. Comparing those visuals with the finished garden is one of the most satisfying parts of any project, and here the finished garden is remarkably close to what we planned.
Mediterranean garden design in London: small gardens, big impact
A city garden can still feel like an escape. Here, a tight, sloping plot has become a series of spaces to cook, eat, work and unwind, each surrounded by planting.
If you have a garden in mind, large or small, I'd love to hear about it. You can see more of my work in my garden design portfolio, or get in touch to arrange a consultation.
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