Kerb appeal

This small front garden now packs a punch, thanks to an effortlessly chic planting scheme and private spaces to take a breather

- Miriam Methuen-Jones

'It's a small front garden, but it's got big aspirations,' says Lynn Hill of this East Lothian coastal cottage garden. “It’s only about six metres by ten metres, but there was a lot we needed to pack in.”

The footprint might be limited, but the garden presented several different challenges. As well as the salt-laden air and sandy soil you'd expect, some sections are baked in sun and exposed to howling winds, while other areas are shaded under a mature tree – “almost a Mediterranean feel at one end and a woodland feel at the other” is how Lynn puts it.

“We had to be really clever with our planting to cope with this. We used geraniums in the shady area and lavender where it gets the sun. There’s Erigeron as well, which is a hardworking plant that flowers from early summer until the first frosts and can handle both sandy soil and the wind.”