This attractive London rooftop space was bleak and windswept before landscape designer Georgia Lindsay got to work. There was a tired barbecue and a couple of chairs (at risk of being blown around when not in use), but also a large, beautiful tree, around which the house below is built, as a stunning focal point.

Lindsay saw plenty of potential, and now the terrace is a welcoming, multizone space with plenty of plantings, a large dining area, a generous outdoor kitchen, intimate seating zones and even a dedicated spot for the owners’ grandchildren to play.

Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: A retired couple, very active in the arts
Location: North London
Size: 1,012 square feet (94 square meters)
Landscape designer: Georgia Lindsay Garden Design
Landscape contractor: PerlaRose Landscapes

Before: After a recommendation from their neighbors, who’d found Lindsay on Houzz, the owners of this home got in touch with the designer to see how she might reinvent their underused roof terrace.

The roof could be windy and had no apparent function, but it did have two big pluses. One is the natural focal point — the tall tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima). This grows up from the ground floor, and access to the terrace is via a spiral staircase that encircles the trunk. The second was the roof’s dumbwaiter, seen here in the foreground. This connects the terrace directly with the owners’ kitchen, one floor below.

Lindsay started with these two features and created a wonderfully inviting garden around them.

In the dappled shade beneath the swaying tree of heaven, there’s now an eight-seater dining table at the heart of the terrace. Around the perimeter of the rectangular space, there are different seating areas backed by planters spilling out soft, rustic blooms. There’s also a gas grill, seen straight ahead, at the center of a well-equipped outdoor kitchen.

Along with the cedar-clad dumbwaiter, the silvery decking was existing and well-weathered. Lindsay explains that she deliberately went for lots of complementary wooden details that will also fade in color as time passes. “Anything too modern here would make the decking look old and tired. The silver bark of the tree and driftwood tones of the decking work well together,” she says.

The table has a deliberately flexible location and can be turned according to the direction of the sun or moved to create more floor space for parties. The overhead lantern is purely decorative; in fact, Lindsay says, there’s minimal lighting up here apart from what is illuminating the planters, including the one containing the olive tree in the far left corner. “The clients were adamant there was enough light spill up here from the surrounding buildings that it never feels truly dark, so they were keen not to go overboard with added lighting,” she says.

The clients, who have a busy social life, grown-up children and young grandchildren, wanted the rooftop to become a place they could entertain family and friends in large and small groups. It also had to provide a spot where the couple could enjoy a morning coffee or a drink on their own.Lindsay built several distinct zones into the design. The kitchen, on the left here, was an important one. It contains a sink, a beverage fridge, a gas grill and lots of storage, all beneath a granite countertop. “Granite is recommended for exterior use,” Lindsay says. “There aren’t many materials not at risk of cracking with frost and temperature changes. Cast concrete is another good option.”

Discreet cube-shaped lights are attached to the trellis posts to illuminate the preparation area.

Just in the shot on the left here, between the kitchen and this seating area, is the dumbwaiter, which can deliver food from the kitchen below. “It’s super convenient,” Lindsay says. She installed a planter around it, which she filled with herbs to have them within easy reach of the chef. A clematis climbs up the cedar tiles.The light well beneath this seating area is above the couple’s living space and dining table.

Lindsay created a corner “room” here, with bench seating and planters bursting with beardtongue (Penstemon ‘Rich Ruby’). The benches are not built-in but made from lightweight concrete-effect resin. This means they can also easily be moved around as needed. The oak chairs and coffee table were made to order.

The kitchen is conveniently positioned opposite the dumbwaiter.

The planting had to be pretty hardy to withstand the windy rooftop conditions. Here you can see purpletop vervain (Verbena bonariensis) arching over evergreen bush morning glory (Convolvulus cneorum). “[The latter] is a very tough, evergreen plant, with little white flowers in the summer,” Lindsay says.

Metal railings behind the raised beds overlook converted stables, or mews. “The owners wanted a bit of privacy here,” she says. But rather than continuing the trellis, seen around the rest of the space, the owners opted for gentler screening with planting.

There’s a simple irrigation system on a timer running around the planters, making it a low-maintenance garden to look after. “I always recommend these. They’re well worth having,” Lindsay says.

Lindsay designed the seating zones to catch the sun at different times of the day and to be useable during the different seasons. This spot is perfect for a mid-morning coffee and is surrounded by cottage planting, including gaura (Gaura lindheimeri), coneflower (Echinacea ‘Sensation Pink’) and lily of the Nile (Agapanthus sp.), out of view. There are also cranesbill (Geranium ‘Rozanne’) here and throughout the space. These are the purple flowers tumbling over the fronts of the pots.The horizontal trellis, which goes around much of the terrace, has several functions: As well as looking neat and providing support for any climbing plants, it also creates a soft windbreak. “It’s not solid, so it’s not like a sail — it lets some of the wind through,” Lindsay says. All the same, it had to be fixed to an L-shaped bracket under the decking to ensure it stays in place.

This area is another example of the flexibility Lindsay built into this garden. Here, it’s shown as a spot for the grandchildren to play in. However, it doubles up as a secondary area for food and drinks close to the dining table. “The stools are beautifully made. They will silver back over time and get that lovely driftwood feel too,” Lindsay says.
Just visible behind the tree is a handy low cabinet with plastic containers inside for storing cushions and lanterns.