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Rachel Platt Garden Design reworked an underused South Buckinghamshire garden into a year-round outdoor retreat centered on an unheated natural swimming pool. The design combines swimming and food growing with wildlife habitat, while retaining existing ponds, terrace and valued plants.
Designer Rachel Platt has turned an underused garden in South Buckinghamshire into a wildlife-friendly outdoor retreat, with an unheated natural swimming pool at its center. The project gives the owners a place to swim and spend time outside while connecting the garden to the surrounding fields and hedgerows.
According to Homes and Gardens, the clients, who both work in the veterinary sector, wanted a landscape that could support wildlife and accommodate swimming, food growing and entertaining. Before the redesign, they regularly drove elsewhere to swim in rivers and made relatively little use of their own garden. The brief was to create a space that felt restorative while encouraging biodiversity.
The garden’s layout shifts from more formal geometry near the house to softer curves, a chalk meadow and an edible hedge toward the fields. The unheated pool was designed with Ellicar Natural Pools and has two parts: a clear swimming area and a planted regeneration zone, where aquatic plants provide hydrobotanical filtration. Planting along the water’s edge includes native and other aquatic species selected for seasonal interest and to attract pollinators.
Homes and Gardens reports that the pool has attracted dragonflies and bats. The clients also say frogs, toads and newts reproduce in the ponds, and that they have seen a water snake. Those observations are reported by the homeowners; the source does not provide an independent wildlife survey. Other features include raised food-growing beds, a grapevine pergola, a firepit and an outdoor shower.
A Pool Built Around Wildlife
The project shows how a private garden can be designed to support several uses without treating recreation and habitat as competing goals. The pool’s separate swimming and regeneration zones allow the owners to swim while aquatic planting contributes to filtration and provides habitat. The reported arrival of wildlife suggests the space is being used beyond its function as a leisure feature, though no formal ecological assessment is included in the source.
For the owners, the redesign also changes how they use their home. They had previously travelled to swim; now they describe the garden as an everyday escape across the seasons. The mix of food production, gathering space and wildlife planting makes the project relevant to readers considering a garden that serves practical and recreational needs as well as visual ones.
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From Formal Pond to Natural Pool
The pool’s final shape was not in the original plan. Platt first proposed a formal linear pond positioned to reflect a mature birch tree seen from the home’s French doors. Existing drainage and a suspected utility service crossing the garden prompted a redesign, and the pool became circular. The source does not say whether the suspected service was confirmed, but reports that these site constraints affected the layout.
The design also retained elements already on the property. The existing terrace and two ponds were kept, and plants including the clients’ fig tree, lily of the valley, raspberries and rhubarb were saved or moved. Toward the garden’s boundary, an edible hedge combines fruiting and native species, creating a gradual link between cultivated areas and the meadow. The owners leave the meadow uncut over winter to provide seeds and shelter for wildlife, according to the report.
Planting was selected to maintain interest beyond summer. The report identifies ornamental grasses and perennials alongside shrubs chosen for autumn color, including Euonymus alatus ‘Compactus’. A wooden pergola gives structure to the raised kitchen garden, while a dedicated dining area sits among established trees and grasses.
“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 garden’s owners, quoted by Homes and Gardens
Wildlife Claims and Site Details
The available report does not give the garden’s area, project cost, completion date or technical specifications such as pool dimensions and maintenance requirements. It also does not describe how the water is monitored or provide details on the pool’s filtration performance beyond identifying its planted regeneration zone.
Wildlife sightings and breeding activity are described by the owners, while the report says the pool has attracted dragonflies and bats. No survey data is supplied to establish how many species use the site or how the garden’s biodiversity has changed over time. The suspected utility crossing is also described as a design constraint, but the source does not confirm the service’s location.
How the Garden Changes Through Seasons
The report presents the garden as an ongoing, seasonal space rather than announcing a future development. The owners describe using the pool through the seasons, while the planting plan spans spring-to-autumn flowers, autumn color and a meadow left standing over winter. The edible hedge and kitchen beds are intended to provide blossom, fruit and seasonal produce as they mature.
No additional work, opening to the public or formal monitoring program is announced. The next developments described are therefore the garden’s continued use and the growth of its plants and habitat; any measurable long-term ecological impact remains unreported.
Key Questions
Who designed the Buckinghamshire garden?
Rachel Platt Garden Design designed the garden. The natural swimming pool was developed in collaboration with Ellicar Natural Pools, according to Homes and Gardens.
How does the natural pool work?
The pool has a clear swimming zone and a planted regeneration zone. The aquatic planting in the regeneration area provides hydrobotanical filtration, the report says.
What wildlife has been reported in the garden?
The owners say frogs, toads, newts and several dragonfly species use or reproduce in the ponds, and that they have seen a water snake. The report also says the pool has attracted dragonflies and bats; it does not include an independent wildlife survey.
Why did the pool design change?
The original proposal was a linear pond aligned with a mature birch tree. Existing drainage and a suspected utility service led to a redesign as a circular pool, according to the report.
What other features are in the garden?
The garden includes raised kitchen beds, an edible hedge, a grapevine pergola, a firepit, outdoor shower, meadow and retained ponds and terrace.
Source: rss
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