An enchanting Kensington garden designed by Todd Longstaffe-Gowan

I am averse to polite town gardens,’ explains Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, as he shows me round the Kensington plot he created six years ago for its artist owner. ‘I don’t want lots of box edging and formality – I like designing spaces with a sense of fun.’ Hidden behind a row of tall Georgian houses, this quirky garden certainly delivers this feeling of playfulness, delighting visitors as they walk from the busy street, through the house to emerge into a different world.

Slightly wider than a typical London plot, the garden is 60 feet long, with a 20-foot-high wall on one side clad in a tangle of foliage and flowers. A gravel path curves past exuberantly planted beds punctuated with tall spires of yew, drawing you through to a circle of lawn – low-maintenance artificial grass, as it turns out – and an elegant yew screen with arches either side. Inspired by the topiarised structures of 17th-century Dutch town gardens, the yew alcove is trained over an oxidised-steel frame designed by Todd and houses a statue of a stag: found years ago in an antique shop, it is brought out every summer to mark the season with a ‘stag party’. ‘The space wasn’t intended for the statue, but it fits perfectly, providing a lovely accent,’ he says.

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At first glance, the garden appears to end here. However, the looming spike of a towering echium beyond the yew screen suggests otherwise and I am lured through a green archway to discover another room right at the end of the garden – a small seating area that Todd calls the belvedere – designed to catch the morning sun through circular holes in the yew above.

‘I always feel you shouldn’t give away the big gesture when you first walk into a garden,’ explains Todd. ‘You need something to tease – the element of surprise is so important.’ Expecting a full stop at this stage – a high wall perhaps, to screen someone else’s garden – I am presented with another surprise: a long, leafy view. The garden sits at the top of a hill with a steep drop behind, and Todd has kept the boundary relatively low here, borrowing lofty views of trees, gardens and the backs of elegant Georgian houses. He playfully compares the miniature panorama to the breathtaking view from Fiesole over Florence.

The planting is highly textured, with jungly foliage plants, such as Hydrangea aspera and Euphorbia x pasteurii, providing the main framework. ‘I like the mix of strong architectural structure and riotous foliage,’ says Todd. ‘We’ve added unusual accent plants, such as false hemp (Datisca cannabina), which come into their own at various points in the season, and others with jewel-like flowers that draw the eye as you walk around.’

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The main wall, on the left, is south facing, providing its own microclimate for the rich layers of plants that clamber up it. As well as using traditional climbers such as roses, ornamental vines and wisteria, Todd has experimented with other shrubs not usually trained against a wall, such as Sambucus nigra, Buddleja alternifolia and Philadelphus ‘Belle Étoile’. ‘Seeing a plant in a different situation changes your idea of it. There are probably dozens of shrubs that could be grown like this. Something like Buddleja alternifolia is ungainly in its normal habit, but has responded so well to being grown up this wall.’ The result is a beautiful intermingling of texture and colour.

I look back over the garden as I leave and reassess the scene. The elegant yew pinnacles, tall and narrow to mimic distant spires, give the garden a theatrical note and set off the ghostly white stag perfectly. But it is the eccentric echiums, the untamed planting and the careful asymmetry that give the garden the desired out-of-kilter elements that make it so special.

Todd Longstaffe-Gowan: tlg-landscape.co.uk