A long strip of water draws the eye through this city garden with water feature before the seating areas take over. The line is clean, dark and still, set against paving, planted borders and a glass-covered terrace that catches the changing light. Natural materials keep the composition grounded: stone, wood and masonry do the work quietly, while the layout opens and closes in measured steps. From the first view through the gate, the garden reads as a sequence of surfaces rather than a single open lawn.<\/p>\n
The reflective water feature sits at the heart of the garden and is visible from several positions. Its narrow form stretches beside the terrace and gives the project its clearest horizontal line. Reflections sharpen the black edge of the basin, and the still surface also acts as a drinking place for birds. That practical role is built into the design without drawing attention away from the calm geometry. In this city garden with water feature, the water is not an accessory; it organizes the whole view.<\/p>\n
Seen from the lounge side, the basin works like a pause between paving and planting. The surrounding borders keep the edge soft, while the open strip of water keeps the eye moving. The result is a garden that feels restrained but never empty. Light changes the surface throughout the day, and even from a distance the reflective water feature remains present as a dark, precise band in the middle of the composition.<\/p>\n
The lounge terrace deck is built in hardwood and appears to float just above the ground. That small lift gives the terrace a sense of separation from the rest of the garden and makes the seating zone feel more open. The wood surface sits beside the lawn and the water, so the eye moves easily between horizontal planes. From the terrace, the house, the grass and the water basin all stay in view, each with its own level and texture.<\/p>\n
One step lower, the dining terrace is tucked in more tightly. The change in level creates a quieter corner for the table, while the lounge terrace remains the place that looks outward. This shift in height is subtle but important. It divides use without hard edges, so the seating areas flow naturally into each other. The city garden with water feature uses those small level changes to guide movement instead of fencing people in.<\/p>\n
Natural stone garden steps lead down to the basement level and make the transition feel deliberate rather than hidden. The treads are broad and plain, with the stone grain visible along the edges. In the images, the steps sit beside masonry and glass, which gives the descent a precise, architectural quality. The route is straightforward, but the material gives it weight. It is one of the few strong vertical moves in the garden, and that contrast helps the rest of the plan feel calmer.<\/p>\n
The stone continues the language of the garden without copying the wood of the lounge terrace deck. That difference matters. Wood lifts, stone anchors. Together they keep the project varied while staying within a limited material palette. The stairs also connect the upper garden to the lower level in a way that feels integrated with the planting and the paved areas around them. Nothing here is overly decorative; the detail is in the junctions and the edges.<\/p>\n
Privacy planting is handled with evergreen screen trees along the outer edges of the garden. Their dense foliage shields the plot from surrounding homes and gives the borders a firm green frame. Because the garden sits among other buildings, that screening is not just a visual layer but a spatial one. It allows the central seating areas to feel enclosed without making them feel shut in. The height of the trees also softens the hard lines of glass, stone and paving nearby.<\/p>\n
The planting scheme changes through the seasons, with different flowering forms, leaf textures and colours carrying the garden from one part of the year to the next. Groundcover plants reduce maintenance and fill the lower layer without competing with the stronger shapes of the trees and terrace edges. Birds and insects are part of that planting choice as well. The result is a city garden with water feature that stays active in small ways: blossom, foliage, movement and sound.<\/p>\n
Rather than one broad planting block, the garden is built from layers. Low planting softens the paving, taller screening plants the perimeter, and the water feature marks the centre. This makes the garden readable from every angle. A view through the glass-covered terrace shows the same logic from inside: hard surfaces at the bottom, green at the edge, and a narrow water line holding the middle. It is a measured arrangement, and that control gives the space its clarity.<\/p>\n
The covered terrace with glass wall adds another reading layer to the plan. Through the glazing, the garden is framed rather than cut off, and the long sightline reinforces the length of the plot. Masonry walls, pale stone and dark water create a palette of brown, black and beige that stays steady from one zone to the next. The materials are not used for contrast alone; they set up a calm sequence that carries from the entrance area to the far edge of the garden.<\/p>\n
Because the lounge terrace deck, the dining terrace and the water basin sit at different points and levels, the garden never feels like one flat surface. Each part has a clear task. One terrace looks out, one sits more intimately, and the central water line keeps the eye moving between them. In a dense urban setting, that is what gives the design its depth: not size, but careful spacing between edges, steps and planted borders.<\/p>\n
The lawn is modest in size, yet it carries several uses. It can work as a play area, or simply stay open for a hammock and a chair. Because the grass sits between the terrace zones and the planting, it functions as a visual relief as much as a practical surface. The garden does not depend on a large expanse of turf. Instead, the compact lawn gives the hard surfaces a place to end, and the reflections in the water a place to be seen from.<\/p>\n
That mix of materials and functions keeps the city garden with water feature open to daily use without losing its quiet profile. The lounge terrace deck, the natural stone garden steps, the privacy planting and the reflective water feature all work as distinct parts, but none of them dominates the whole. The strongest impression comes from the way the elements are spaced: water, wood, stone, glass and green set in a measured rhythm that fits the narrow urban plot.<\/p>\n
Photography \u2013 Mart Goossens & Flare Department<\/p>\n
Contributors:
Gardener \u2013 Kunst van het Scheppen
Styling \u2013 Rianne Landstra<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":724511,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"city garden with water feature","_yoast_wpseo_title":"City garden with water feature and natural materials","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"A calm city garden with a reflective water feature, natural materials, privacy planting and layered seating areas.","_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"","content-type":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":null,"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":""},"hoog_category":[2974],"class_list":["post-1156030","hoog_project","type-hoog_project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","hoog_category-garden-design"],"acf":{"hoog_project_owner":1002411,"hoog_contributors":null,"hoog_project_badge":"","hoog_featured_project":false,"hoog_project_video":"","hoog_project_photos":[{"image_file":724511,"video_id":"","image_size":"full"},{"image_file":724502,"video_id":"","image_size":"full"},{"image_file":724505,"video_id":"","image_size":"full"},{"image_file":724508,"video_id":"","image_size":"full"},{"image_file":724517,"video_id":"","image_size":"full"},{"image_file":724526,"video_id":"","image_size":"full"},{"image_file":724514,"video_id":"","image_size":"full"},{"image_file":724520,"video_id":"","image_size":"full"},{"image_file":724523,"video_id":"","image_size":"full"}]},"yoast_head":"\n