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Annie and Mark planned a 150-square-metre garden alongside a rear home extension at their village home outside York. The design links indoor and outdoor spaces and includes a rainwater-fed rill and an open-roofed garden folly; Annie says the completed garden now stands as a tribute to Mark, who died after the work was finished.
Annie and Mark planned a garden alongside a rear extension to their home in a village outside York, creating a connected set of indoor and outdoor spaces that includes a rainwater-fed rill and an open-roofed folly. The garden, completed after the building work, is now a tribute to Mark, who died after the project was finished, according to Annie’s account in Amateur Gardening.
The couple bought the house in 2018. Its garden measured about 150 square metres, a sharp change from the nine-acre grounds at their previous home. Before the redesign, the space had a lawn, a stone path, a small raised deck, bamboo and an aging sunken trampoline. Annie said the surrounding red-brick walls offered a useful starting point for a more distinctive design.
After work on the house interior and the worst of the Covid period had passed, the couple began considering changes to the rear of the home. They engaged Ian Hazard of Ian Hazard Architects at the beginning of 2021. Their brief was to improve the home’s internal layout and its connection to the garden, with areas for relaxing, entertaining, children to spend time with friends and growing vegetables.
The plans were developed together, although the garden was built after the extension for practical reasons. Architect Ian Hazard said the garden folly was intended to connect a new outdoor room with the extension’s design. Zinc and timber helped link the two, while western red cedar slats added warmth and texture. Mark, an engineer, designed and built much of the hard landscaping, including water features and the folly, according to Hazard.
A Garden Planned With the Extension
The project shows how coordinating a garden with a home extension can shape both designs, rather than treating outdoor space as an afterthought. Here, the extension’s materials and the garden folly were selected to create a visual connection, while early decisions about the house footprint helped preserve room for the garden on a relatively small plot.
The couple also wanted a space that felt calm and supported local wildlife, while remaining useful for family life and vegetable growing. The rainwater-fed rill is one of the design’s practical and visual elements, but the available account does not give figures for water use, cost or environmental performance. The garden’s meaning is also personal: Annie described it as a lasting record of a project she and Mark developed together.
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From Trampoline to Outdoor Rooms
Annie said the old garden was mostly grass, with the sunken trampoline taking up a large rectangular area. The couple had already planted wisteria and climbing roses against the back wall, along with verbena bonariensis near an existing apple tree. Annie also described a preference for mixing wild and formal planting, including foxgloves and poppies.
The redesign grew from a shared brief. Mark wanted water in the garden, while Annie wanted somewhere to sit beneath the night sky and occasionally have a fire. They visited Beningbrough and RHS Harlow Carr for ideas about planting and structure. Annie said the architect helped balance the house plans against the garden’s limited area, as the couple discussed and revised how the spaces might work.
““It needed to feel like a calming and nurturing space which was productive and supportive of local wildlife.””
— Annie
Details Not Given in the Account
The report describes the rill as rainwater-fed, but does not specify how rainwater is collected, stored or delivered to it. It also provides no measurements of water consumption, construction costs, maintenance needs or the garden’s effect on wildlife. The source does not give a completion date or detailed technical plans for the extension and water system.
The account says Mark died after the work was completed, but does not provide further details. This article relies on Annie’s and Hazard’s statements as reported by Amateur Gardening; it does not independently verify the project’s construction or environmental outcomes.
How the Garden Is Remembered
The source presents the garden as a completed project and a tribute to Mark, rather than announcing further construction or a new phase. It does not identify upcoming work, monitoring of the rainwater system or plans to publish additional technical information. Readers seeking practical details about replicating the design would need further information on the water collection setup, materials, costs and site conditions.
Key Questions
Where is the garden?
It is at a home in a village outside York, England. The source does not name the village.
What does rainwater-fed mean in this project?
The report says the garden has a rainwater-fed rill, a narrow water channel. It does not explain the collection, storage or delivery system.
Who designed and built the garden features?
Annie and Mark developed the brief with architect Ian Hazard. Hazard says Mark designed and built much of the hard landscaping, including water features and the garden folly.
Was the garden designed at the same time as the extension?
Yes. Annie said both were envisioned as one project, although the garden was completed after the building work for practical reasons.
What is the garden’s significance to Annie?
Annie says it is a tribute to Mark, who died after the work was completed. The garden reflects a joint project they planned together.
Source: amateurgardening.com
