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Garden designer Fi Boyle won the People’s Choice category at the Society of Garden and Landscape Designers’ Awards for her redesign of a steep former quarry garden. Her approach includes surveying level changes, making terraces with retaining walls, planning accessible routes and repeating materials to connect different levels.
Garden designer Fi Boyle won the public-voted People’s Choice category at the Society of Garden and Landscape Designers’ Awards for transforming a steep former quarry garden into a series of usable terraces. Her project, described by Amateur Gardening, offers practical design lessons for gardeners dealing with steep ground, difficult access and planting problems.
The former quarry site had been privately owned and previous attempts to create usable areas had left parts of it overgrown and crumbling, Boyle told Amateur Gardening. The clients wanted to use more of the garden and needed routes that allowed machinery and wheelbarrows to move between levels without relying on steps, so the space could be maintained.
Boyle’s design used several kinds of retaining wall, including natural stone gathered from the site, rendered breeze block, and steel and sleeper construction. She said a wall does not always need to create a large, flat terrace: a low retaining wall can change the slope’s angle enough to make an area more workable. The number and placement of levels should respond to the actual ground and to the routes between them.
The planting and materials also vary by area. The sunniest terrace has a Mediterranean-inspired palette, gravel and stepping stones; Boyle says stepping stones need a firm surface with softer material such as gravel or planting around them. Limestone paving and rounded Cotswold gravel recur across the garden, linking its separate levels. On steep banks, Boyle says she used wildflower turf; the supplied report cuts off before giving further detail about that planting.
Making Steep Ground Usable
The project speaks to a common practical problem: steep gardens can be hard to walk through, maintain and plant successfully. Boyle says soil and added compost can move downhill, leaving the top dry and the base wet; she also describes the bottom of a steep slope as a possible frost pocket. Terracing can create flatter areas, while a planned route between them can make maintenance more manageable.
For readers, the lesson is not that every slope should be flattened or copied from this design. The example shows how a garden can be planned around its specific levels, access needs, aspect and surroundings. Boyle’s advice to repeat materials also addresses a design challenge created by multiple terraces: using common stone and gravel can help separate spaces read as parts of one garden.
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From Quarry Slope to Terraces
Amateur Gardening presents the garden as an exceptionally steep and difficult site, with some areas virtually unusable before the redesign. Boyle said the clients were keen gardeners and wanted more of the land to function as garden space. Their maintenance requirement shaped the design brief: movement between levels had to accommodate wheelbarrows and machinery, not just people on foot.
Boyle’s wider guidance starts with understanding the slope rather than choosing plants or materials immediately. She cautions that borders on very steep ground can be difficult to care for, and says a survey can reveal level changes that are not apparent by eye. The article quotes her describing slopes above 30 degrees as very hard to look after, while also saying that such a gradient remains too steep to work comfortably. The figure is her practical advice, not a universal engineering standard.
She also recommends matching the garden’s character to its conditions. In the quarry garden, the sunny terrace uses gravel and stone suited to its Mediterranean theme. Boyle says shaded slopes may instead suit a woodland effect, with log paths or bark chippings. Planting can shift from more cultivated choices near the house or terrace toward native or near-native varieties at the outer edges, guided by soil, aspect and the surrounding landscape.
“The clients are keen gardeners and wanted to make as much of the space as possible into usable garden.”
— Fi Boyle, garden designer, quoted by Amateur Gardening
Project Details Not Supplied
The source does not specify the award year, the garden’s location, its dimensions, the budget or the length of the redesign. It also does not provide independent judging details beyond identifying Boyle’s award as the public-voted People’s Choice category. The article excerpt ends partway through its discussion of wildflower turf, so its full planting plan and any additional maintenance guidance cannot be confirmed from the material provided.
The advice is presented through one completed garden and Boyle’s design experience. The report does not give engineering specifications for retaining walls, drainage plans or a detailed assessment of when professional structural advice is needed. Those matters may vary by site and are not established by the article.
Survey Before Designing
For anyone considering a similar project, Boyle’s stated first step is to arrange a site survey and understand the level changes before deciding where terraces or routes should go. The design then needs to account for how people and maintenance equipment will move between levels, alongside the slope’s soil, light and planting conditions.
The source reports no further award announcement, construction phase or planned follow-up for the quarry garden. The available development is the award and the publication of Boyle’s design advice; additional details about the project remain unreported.
Key Questions
What award did Fi Boyle receive?
Amateur Gardening reports that Boyle won the People’s Choice category at the Society of Garden and Landscape Designers’ Awards. The source does not specify the award year.
What was the main challenge at the former quarry garden?
The garden was very steep, and Boyle said large areas were virtually unusable while accessible parts were overgrown and crumbling. The clients also needed routes between levels that could accommodate machinery and wheelbarrows.
How did the design make the slope more usable?
It used terraces and retaining walls to create usable areas, with routes planned between levels. Boyle says the wall types included on-site stone, rendered breeze block, and steel and sleeper construction.
Why repeat stone and gravel across different levels?
Boyle says repeating materials helps connect the separate terraces. In the quarry garden, limestone paving and rounded Cotswold gravel were used across multiple areas.
What should gardeners do before designing a steep garden?
Boyle recommends getting a survey of the level changes. She says the slope may be steeper or the height difference greater than it appears, which can affect terrace placement and access planning.
Source: amateurgardening.com
