A league of its own

After having a lawned family garden for many years, Steven Medley upped his game to create a richly layered space

- JACK WALLINGTON

In retirement, some of us might want to slow down and maybe take things easy. Not retired GP Steven Medley, who through meticulous research, and a lot of hard work, has single-handedly created a naturalistic garden that is nothing short of a masterpiece.

At two-thirds of an acre, this wedge-shaped plot, which slopes slightly north, is striking in its scale and feel. Abundant planting envelops the space with colour and texture, hinting at the influences of Piet Oudolf, Nigel Dunnett, James Hitchmough and German-style mixed planting. "I've tried to make the whole garden a bit more complex as time goes on," he says.

In 1994, the family had engaged James Pinder Landscapes to create a garden for their new-build home. This garden with its pergola, stone summerhouse and large mixed borders served the family perfectly until Steven's daughter had grown up and there was no longer the need for a huge lawn to accommodate the bouncy castle on birthdays.

About the same time, in the early 2000s, Steven encountered Piet Oudolf's designs, and these sparked the idea of the transformation of the garden. "I thought 'Wow, that is Premier League; my garden is League Two," he says. Visits to Oudolf designs at Scampston Hall in North Yorkshire and Hauser & Wirth in Somerset set things in motion, along with a memorable conversation with Oudolf himself at his garden Hummelo before it closed to the public.

Steven cites three key books as inspiration: Designing with Plants and the later Planting: A New Perspective, both by Piet Oudolf and Noel Kingsbury; and Planting in a Post-Wild World by Thomas Rainer and Claudia West. Also instrumental were Kim and Stephen Rogers and their nearby Dove Cottage nursery, sadly now closed. Here Steven bought plants for a West Yorkshire climate and learned from the nursery's demonstration garden.