TL;DR
Get garden gear delivered free with Prime
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
- Member-only deals all year
Rachel Platt Garden Design transformed a South Buckinghamshire garden into a year-round outdoor retreat, with an unheated natural swimming pool, food-growing areas and habitat-focused planting. The project retained existing ponds, a terrace and valued plants while adapting the pool design around drainage and a suspected utility service.
Designer Rachel Platt has turned an underused garden in South Buckinghamshire into a landscape built around an unheated natural swimming pool, food-growing spaces and habitat for wildlife. The project responds to the owners’ brief for a private outdoor refuge connected to the surrounding fields and hedgerows, while making their garden a place to swim and spend time throughout the year.
The homeowners, who work in the veterinary sector, wanted a garden that could support wildlife and accommodate swimming, growing food and entertaining. Before the redesign, they regularly drove elsewhere to swim in rivers and spent relatively little time in their own garden, according to the project account published by Homes & Gardens. Platt’s design moves from more structured geometry near the house to softer curves, a chalk meadow and an edible hedge towards the fields.
The central feature is an unheated natural pool designed with Ellicar Natural Pools. It has a clear swimming area and a planted regeneration zone, where aquatic plants provide what the source describes as hydrobotanical filtration. Planting around the water includes water mint, water forget-me-nots, native flag irises and marsh marigolds. The design also incorporates deeper-water plants, including water plantain and arrowhead.
Other parts of the garden include a raised kitchen garden, a grapevine pergola, a firepit with boulder seating, an outdoor shower and a dining area. An edible hedge combines hazel, hawthorn, blackberry, chokeberry, damson, pear and serviceberry. The meadow is left uncut through winter, according to the report, to provide seeds and overwintering space for wildlife.
A Garden Designed for Daily Use
The redesign links everyday recreation with wildlife-friendly features rather than treating them as separate goals. The pool gives the owners a place to swim at home, while its planted zone and surrounding vegetation form part of a wider garden habitat. The kitchen garden and edible hedge add food production to the scheme, and the meadow provides a less-managed area at the edge of the cultivated space.
The project also shows how site conditions can shape a design. A formal, linear pond was part of the original concept, but existing drainage and a suspected utility service crossing the garden prompted a change to a circular pool. That adjustment allowed the plan to respond to constraints while retaining the larger aim of connecting the garden to the landscape beyond it.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
From River Trips to a Home Pool
The owners’ starting point was a garden they did not use much, despite a strong interest in swimming and the natural world. They wanted to swim close to home and create a place that would feel connected to the surrounding rolling fields and hedgerows. Platt’s plan was arranged to change character as it moves away from the house: formal lines give way to curves and a meadow at the garden’s outer edge.
Not everything was replaced. The existing terrace and two ponds were kept, and much of the original planting was retained or relocated. The source names the clients’ fig tree, lily of the valley, raspberries and rhubarb among the plants preserved. The owners said the ponds support frogs, toads and newts, and that they have seen dragonflies, bats, birds and a water snake in the garden. These are observations reported by the clients, not an independent wildlife survey.
“The garden has become a haven, a place to find balance and feel miles away from everything… And our natural pond is a total escape all through the seasons.”
— The homeowners, as quoted in Homes & Gardens
Wildlife Claims and Pool Details
The source does not state when the redesign was completed, provide a project budget or give technical details such as the pool’s dimensions, water-treatment performance or maintenance requirements. It also does not specify which utility service was suspected to cross the site or whether that service was confirmed. The reported wildlife sightings come from the homeowners; no species survey or before-and-after ecological assessment is included.
Although the pool was designed for use through the seasons, the material does not set out how often the owners swim in winter or provide water-temperature information. The account describes an unheated pool but does not quantify its operating costs or environmental effects.
How the Garden Changes Through Seasons
The project account describes planting intended to provide seasonal interest, including autumn color from shrubs such as burning bush and a mix of ornamental grasses and perennials. The meadow is left standing over winter, while the edible hedge is intended to offer blossom, fruit, structure and habitat. No future construction phase, formal monitoring plan or additional project milestone is identified in the supplied material.
For readers considering a similar design, the details that would clarify how the garden performs over time include ongoing pool maintenance, seasonal use and any measured changes in wildlife. The source does not report that such follow-up data has been published.
Key Questions
Who designed the South Buckinghamshire garden?
Rachel Platt Garden Design led the garden design. Ellicar Natural Pools worked with the designer on the natural swimming pool.
How is the swimming pool designed?
The unheated pool has a clear swim zone and a planted regeneration zone. The project account says aquatic planting in the regeneration area provides hydrobotanical filtration.
What wildlife have the owners reported?
The homeowners say they have seen frogs, toads, newts, dragonflies, bats, birds and a water snake. These are client-reported sightings; the source does not include an independent wildlife survey.
Why did the pool design change?
The original concept called for a formal linear pond. Existing drainage and a suspected utility service across the garden led the team to rework it as a circular pool, according to the report.
What other features are in the garden?
The garden includes a raised kitchen garden, grapevine pergola, edible hedge, chalk meadow, firepit seating, outdoor shower and dining area. The existing terrace and two ponds were also retained.
Source: rss
Fall Picks
fall essentials
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
