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Designer Rachel Platt reshaped an underused garden in South Buckinghamshire into a landscape for swimming, growing food and supporting wildlife. Its unheated natural pool, meadow and edible hedge connect the garden to the surrounding countryside, according to the project details and the owners.
Designer Rachel Platt has transformed an underused garden in South Buckinghamshire into a landscape built around an unheated natural swimming pool, food-growing areas and wildlife habitat. The project responds to the owners’ request for a garden that could support everyday outdoor life while connecting with the surrounding fields and hedgerows.
The clients, who work in the veterinary sector, wanted space to swim, grow food and entertain, as well as planting that would encourage wildlife. Before the redesign, they regularly travelled elsewhere to swim and spent relatively little time in their own garden. Platt’s design, developed with Ellicar Natural Pools, places a natural swimming pool at the centre of the new layout.
The pool has two areas: a clear swim zone and a planted regeneration zone, where aquatic plants provide what the project description calls hydrobotanical filtration. Planting around the edges includes water mint, water forget-me-nots, native flag irises and marsh marigolds. The garden’s wider features include a chalk meadow, a productive kitchen garden, a grapevine pergola, a firepit and an outdoor shower.
The layout shifts from more defined geometry near the house to softer curves and meadow planting toward the fields. An edible hedge of hazel, hawthorn, blackberry, chokeberry, damson, pear and serviceberry creates another link with the landscape beyond the property. The meadow is left uncut over winter, the owners say, to offer seeds and overwintering cover to insects, birds and small mammals.
A Garden Built for Daily Use
The redesign addresses a practical change in how the owners use their home. The pool brings swimming into the garden, while the kitchen garden, dining space and firepit make room for other regular activities. The project therefore combines recreation and food production with habitat-focused planting, rather than treating wildlife features as separate from the garden’s everyday use.
The planting and water features are also intended to support a range of species. The owners report seeing frogs, toads and newts breeding in the ponds, along with dragonflies and bats. They also describe birds bathing at a beach area by the pond. These are the clients’ observations; the published project account does not provide an independent wildlife survey or measurements of ecological change.
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Why the Pool Shape Changed
The initial pool concept was a formal linear pond, positioned to reflect a mature birch tree visible from the house. Platt revised the design after encountering existing drainage and a suspected utility service running across the garden. The final pool is circular, showing how site constraints shaped the design rather than simply its appearance.
The project also retained existing features and planting. The terrace and two ponds were kept for their environmental value, while plants and food crops—including the owners’ fig tree, lily of the valley, raspberries and rhubarb—were preserved or relocated. The owners had asked for autumn interest as well, prompting a mix of grasses, perennials and shrubs chosen for seasonal colour and structure.
“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, as quoted by Homes and Gardens
Wildlife Impact Still Unmeasured
The published account does not state when the project was completed, how large the site or pool is, or how much the work cost. It also gives no formal monitoring data to verify changes in wildlife numbers, water quality or the pool’s ecological performance. Species sightings and breeding activity are attributed to the owners, and should not be read as results from an independent assessment.
The report describes the regeneration zone as providing plant-based filtration, but does not explain maintenance requirements, water testing or how the system performs through different seasons. It is also unclear how often the pool is used in winter or whether its unheated water is suitable for every swimmer.
Seasonal Use and Wildlife Checks
No further project announcement or monitoring schedule is included in the source material. The garden’s next developments will be seasonal: the aquatic planting flowers from spring into early autumn, while the meadow is left standing through winter and the edible hedge offers blossom, fruit and habitat at different times of year.
Any assessment of longer-term results would require information not provided in the report, such as ongoing wildlife surveys and water-quality records. For now, the confirmed account is a completed design shaped around the owners’ brief, existing site constraints and their stated observations of the garden.
Key Questions
Who designed the South Buckinghamshire garden?
Rachel Platt Garden Design designed the garden, working with Ellicar Natural Pools on the natural swimming pool.
How does the natural pool work?
The pool has a clear swimming area and a planted regeneration zone. The project description says aquatic planting in the regeneration zone provides hydrobotanical filtration; it does not give technical details about maintenance or water testing.
What wildlife has been reported at the garden?
The owners say they have seen frogs, toads, newts, dragonflies, bats, birds and a water snake. These are their observations, not findings from a published wildlife survey.
What happens to the meadow over winter?
The owners leave the meadow uncut through winter, according to the report, so it can provide seeds and a place for insects, birds and small mammals to shelter.
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