BOLTON
The Brief
This challenging and ambitious landscape design commission in Bolton, Lancashire, centred on a dramatically sloping site that falls steeply from top to bottom.
The clients needed a design that would work with the contours rather than fight against them, creating a cohesive, usable outdoor space across multiple levels.
At the lower level, an office garden room was already under construction when I joined the project. This set the starting point for the redesign and created a clear opportunity: to transform the surrounding landscape into something both practical and beautiful despite difficult soil conditions and the steep gradient.
The Design
The ground conditions at the bottom of the site offered limited planting options, but a wildflower meadow was the ideal solution. It's low maintenance, ecologically beneficial and visually captivating throughout the seasons. Its softness also provided the perfect counterbalance to the solidity of the garden room.
To elevate both function and experience, we designed a floating timber platform set within the meadow—a calm seating retreat immersed in swaying colour and movement. From here, a boardwalk gently rises through the landscape, guiding visitors upwards without disrupting the natural slope.
The boardwalk leads to a series of steps that weave into a peaceful forest garden, introducing layers of dappled shade, structure, and biodiversity. This woodland-inspired area becomes the transitional heart of the journey, linking the meadow below with the terraced upper levels above.
The Garden
The completed garden embraces the site’s dramatic topography, turning its greatest challenge into its defining feature.
The wildflower meadow, elevated platform, meandering boardwalk, forest planting, and terraced upper spaces all work together to create a multi-dimensional garden that feels immersive, intuitive, and deeply connected to the land.
The result is a space that balances beauty, utility and ecological sensitivity. Most importantly, it celebrates the site’s natural contours rather than overcoming them.
If you’re facing a challenging or unconventional site, we’d love to help you explore its full potential. Get in touch to start your project.