Rosewood Terrace

Overview

Roses, Lavender and Long Summer Evenings

The Rosewood terrace faced due south — a suntrap the owners barely used because the old patio crumbled, the beds baked dry and there was nowhere comfortable to sit. They dreamed of roses like their grandmother grew, with somewhere to eat among them.

We rebuilt the terrace in warm sandstone, wrapped it in forty roses underplanted with lavender, catmint and grasses, and added a drip line on a timer so the display never suffers in August heat.

The Challenge

Roses are hungry, thirsty and fussy about air flow — three things a walled south terrace works against. The soil was rubble-rich builder's fill barely 20cm deep in places.

Our Approach

We excavated the beds to 60cm, rebuilt them with loam, compost and grit, and chose disease-resistant varieties spaced generously for airflow. An automatic drip system and thick mulch do the daily work; our crew handles the seasonal pruning.