Exotic garden adds to pleasure of living at Shinfield Park

At Shinfield Park in Reading, a development by Barratt Thames Valley, Lee and Angela Ablett have added to the pleasure of living in their smart new townhouse by turning their garden into an exotic jungle complete with a hot tub.

Shinfield Park offers an attractive mix of houses and apartments set in 37 acres of beautiful parkland, just three miles from Reading town centre. Lee and Angela first bought a three-bedroom house there in October 2006 and last year they purchased a second home at Shinfield Park, a larger three-bedroom townhouse with the added benefit of a utility room, study and garage. Barratt helped the couple by paying the deposit on their new home.

Lee comments: "After getting married we wanted to move to a larger house. We really enjoy living here; it's a lovely area with a good community feel and great transport links - so we decided to stay." The couple kept their original home, which they are renting out. "It's the perfect arrangement because we're nearby and can keep an eye on the property," says Lee.

With no work to do on their new home, Lee and Angela spent most of their spare time creating their garden. "Friends and family clubbed together to buy us a hot tub as a wedding present and its octagonal shape inspired us to introduce interesting angles in our garden," says Angela. She adds: "We also wanted to incorporate the tree ferns from our last house into our new garden and this gave us the idea of a tropical garden."

The couple watched gardening programmes and searched websites to find suitable plants, which they bought online. They chose spiky Cordyline, Agapanthus, Canna, Hosta and Rodgersia, complemented by Japanese Mock Orange, Chinese Yellow Banana, Red Hot Poker, Coral Flower, Verbena, Lobelia, Montbretia and many different types of lilies. Big tree ferns in pots, bamboo, palms and a striking palm tree brought the jungle theme alive.

So that they can entertain in the garden, Lee and Angela added sleepers and decking, on which they placed their new table and chairs; a gravel path leads to the barbecue area.

"We designed the garden and did all the work ourselves," says Angela, "After the initial hard work, there's very little to do except the occasional bit of pruning and trimming back, because the plants need very little maintenance. We think our garden looks amazing and now we can just chill out and enjoy it."

Lee and Angela's spacious townhouse has a modern layout over three storeys. The ground floor has a study/fourth bedroom, a shower room, a utility room and a garage. The spacious living/dining room and kitchen are located on the first floor, while the master bedroom with en suite, two further bedrooms and the family bathroom are on the second floor.

Shinfield Park combines rural living with excellent nearby facilities. Within a mile or so is a large ASDA and M&S food store. Reading town centre has outstanding amenities with its Madejski football stadium, Oracle shopping centre and a host of bars, restaurants and clubs. Lee comments: "We love socialising with our friends in the local pubs and restaurants, and when we want to get away from it all, there's masses of open space in the parkland beyond where we can walk our dogs."

Lee works in London as an IT consultant and finds it easy to commute from Shinfield Park. It's less than ten minutes to Reading Station, which has fast 30-minute services into London Paddington. If Lee and Angela want to drive into London, or to visit their family in Cardiff at weekends, the M4 is a five-minute drive away.

Currently available for sale at Shinfield Park are three and four bedroom townhouses from £479,995. Some of the homes are ready for immediate occupation. Barratt has a wide range of incentives to help homebuyers in all situations, including part-exchange opportunities coupled with a £1000 mortgage subsidy, and a three year price guarantee which means if the value of your home falls by up to 15 per cent during the next three years, Barratt will refund the difference.

For more information, log on to Barratthomes.co.uk.