Apt Studios Gardens by Design

10/08/2026

This week we have made great progress with our curved 'hit and miss' brick walls.

These walls are arranged to screen off views of the driveway and parking areas from the main house, while giving the front garden a more 'courtyard' feel. The supporting corten steel posts are inspired by the sites agricultural history, and will form a unique patina.

We are looking forward to seeing how these look once softened with some planting!

07/08/2026

For this project we built a landscape wall using bricks from the old house, to mirror one at the front of the house.

This wall forms part of a water feature, and continues to cut through the garden into the planting either side, tying the garden features together.

Rudbeckia, Lythrum, Perovskia and Sesleria all looking fantastic right now among the beech columns.

06/08/2026

Today we revisited a project that we completed last year, where swathes of Rudbeckia, Lythrum, Calamagrostis, and Perovskia all coming into their own as we move later into summer.

28/07/2026

A wild matrix planting scheme combines the old and the new in this garden.

A low wall built from bricks reclaimed from the old house that was demolished to make way for the new, with a wild planting scheme helping to anchor a mature Magnolia stellata planted by the client many years ago.

25/07/2026

A wild matrix planting scheme dotted through with beech columns all help to settle the house into the landscape, with the colours standing out boldly against the charred larch cladding and large windows of the building.

15/07/2026

Nepeta and Calamagrostis creating a colourful, wild look that surrounds our clients treasured statue.

In front of the statue we created a bench inspired by the loose stones on site that used to male up a low wall that framed the old driveway. We used them here to build a dry stone wall, topped with a sustainable hardwood seat from

24/06/2026

One of our favourite plant combinations for this time of year, Achillea 'Credo' and Knautia macedonica!

Credo starts to flower a bright yellow that fades to a paler cream-yellow through summer, all while pairing perfectly with the red flowers of the Knautia.

22/06/2026

A bespoke water feature that we designed and built toward the start of last year.

Three corten steel spouts jut out of the wall. An intricate run of pipes hidden inside and beneath the wall give the effect that the water appears from nowhere, before falling into the reflective pool below.

16/06/2026

So excited to be working alongside Mark and local architects on his bid to transform The Ossington into a Contemporary Art Gallery for Newark. https://www.cangallery.org/
Apt Studios Gardens by Design have gifted their services to re‑imagine the terraced garden, creating a perennial landscape that sits more gently within its historic setting.
Inspired by an artist’s palette, the castle walls and Lady Ossington herself, the concept blends colour, texture and heritage to form an atmospheric sanctuary — a place to sit with tea and cake, enjoy framed views through castellated hedging and feel connected to the natural rhythm of the planting.

'There is an opportunity to increase the cultural vitality of Newark' 📈

13/06/2026

Astrantia, Luzula nivea and Hellebore make up one of our favourite combinations for a slightly tricky shady spot.

Planted here next to the house and in the dappled shade of a mature Cedar, among Hydrangea quercifolia, the whites and pinks create bright accents against the dark charred cladding of the building.