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Rachel Platt Garden Design transformed an underused South Buckinghamshire garden into a wildlife-focused landscape with an unheated natural swimming pool, edible planting and a chalk meadow. The project retains existing ponds, terrace and valued plants while creating spaces for swimming, growing food and gathering outdoors.
Designer Rachel Platt has turned an underused garden in South Buckinghamshire into a landscape combining an unheated natural swimming pool, wildlife habitat and productive planting. The project responds to the owners’ brief for a garden that supports wildlife while giving them space to swim, grow food and spend more time outdoors.
The homeowners, who work in the veterinary sector, wanted their garden to connect with the fields and hedgerows around their property. 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 and Gardens. The completed layout moves from more ordered geometry near the house to softer curves, a chalk meadow and an experimental edible hedge towards the fields.
At the center 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 project account describes as hydrobotanical filtration. Planting around the water includes native and moisture-loving species selected for seasonal interest and to attract pollinators. The owners report seeing dragonflies and bats, alongside frogs, toads and newts in the garden’s ponds.
The design also retains features and plants with environmental or personal value. The existing terrace and two ponds were kept, while plants including a fig tree, lily of the valley, raspberries and rhubarb were saved or relocated. Elsewhere, the garden includes a kitchen garden, a grapevine pergola, a firepit with boulder seating and an outdoor shower. An edible hedge combines hazel, hawthorn, blackberry, chokeberry, damson, pear and serviceberry; the meadow is left uncut through winter to provide seeds and shelter for wildlife, the report says.
A Pool Designed for People and Wildlife
The project brings swimming into the owners’ everyday outdoor space while making the pool part of a broader wildlife-focused garden. Its separate swim and planted regeneration zones aim to accommodate both uses, rather than treating the water only as a conventional leisure feature. The design also links the house and garden to the surrounding landscape through the meadow and edible hedge.
For readers considering a similar approach, the project illustrates how existing features can be incorporated rather than cleared as part of a redesign. Retaining ponds, established planting and productive crops can preserve habitat and personal connections while creating new ways to use the space. The account does not provide cost or maintenance figures, so it cannot establish how affordable or practical the approach would be for other gardens.
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How the Garden’s Plan Changed
The first concept called for a formal, linear pond positioned to reflect a mature birch tree seen from the home’s large French doors. According to the report, existing drainage and a suspected utility service running across the garden prompted a change to a circular pool. The final design shifts in character as it moves away from the house, with stronger lines giving way to curved forms and more naturalistic planting.
The planting plan includes aquatic flowers such as water mint, native flag iris, marsh marigold and purple loosestrife, as well as deeper-water plants including water plantain and arrowhead. For autumn color and texture, the account names ornamental grasses and perennials alongside shrubs such as Euonymus alatus ‘Compactus’, selected for its red fall color. These choices serve the owners’ request for seasonal interest, while the edible hedge and kitchen garden add food-growing space.
“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, quoted by Homes and Gardens
Costs and Wildlife Data Unreported
The project account does not state when the garden was completed, how much it cost or what ongoing maintenance the pool and planting require. It also does not provide water-quality measurements, technical details about the filtration system or an independent assessment of biodiversity changes. Wildlife sightings are reported by the homeowners and should not be read as a formal ecological survey.
The source describes the pool as suitable for swimming, but does not set out operating guidance, water testing arrangements or safety provisions. Anyone considering a natural swimming pool would need to establish those details for their own site. Children must be closely supervised around any pool, with appropriate barriers and other drowning-prevention measures.
How the Garden Will Mature
The report presents the garden as an established project, but gives no schedule for further work or future monitoring. Its planting will continue to change through the seasons: the edible hedge is intended to provide blossom, fruit and habitat, while the meadow is left standing through winter and the pool’s marginal plants offer seasonal structure. The owners describe using the space for swimming, food growing and family gatherings.
No additional announcement or next project milestone is identified in the source. The longer-term results for wildlife, pool performance and maintenance remain to be documented.
Key Questions
Who designed the South Buckinghamshire garden?
Rachel Platt Garden Design designed the garden. The natural swimming pool was developed in collaboration with Ellicar Natural Pools, according to the Homes and Gardens report.
What makes the swimming pool natural?
The pool has a clear swim zone and a separate planted regeneration zone. The project account says aquatic planting in the latter provides hydrobotanical filtration; it does not publish technical performance or water-testing data.
What wildlife has been reported at the garden?
The owners say they have seen frogs, toads, newts, dragonflies and a water snake, as well as bats. These are homeowner observations reported in the article, not findings from a published ecological survey.
What happened to the original pond design?
The initial proposal was for a formal linear pond aligned with a mature birch tree. Existing drainage and a suspected utility service led the designers to revise the plan to a circular pool, the report says.
Are the project’s cost and completion date known?
No. The source does not provide a project cost or completion date, nor does it detail the pool’s ongoing maintenance requirements.
Source: rss
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