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Rachel Platt Garden Design reworked a South Buckinghamshire garden for clients who wanted to swim, grow food and support wildlife at home. Its unheated natural swimming pond combines a clear swimming area with a planted regeneration zone; the wider garden includes retained ponds, an edible hedge, a kitchen garden and a meadow left uncut in winter.
Designer Rachel Platt has transformed an underused garden in South Buckinghamshire into a landscape built around an unheated natural swimming pond, productive planting and wildlife habitat. The project responds to the owners’ brief for a garden where they could swim, grow food and spend more time outdoors while supporting local wildlife.
The owners, who work in the veterinary sector, had regularly travelled elsewhere to swim in rivers and spent relatively little time in their own garden, according to the project account published by Homes and Gardens. They wanted the redesigned space to connect with the surrounding fields and hedgerows and to offer room for swimming, growing food and entertaining.
Platt’s design shifts from more formal geometry near the house to softer curves, a sweeping chalk meadow and an experimental edible hedge towards the fields. The natural pool, developed in collaboration with Ellicar Natural Pools, has two parts: a clear swim zone and a planted regeneration zone that provides hydrobotanical filtration. Aquatic plants include water mint, flag irises, marsh marigolds and water plantain.
The pool’s shape changed during design. The initial proposal was a formal linear pond positioned to reflect a mature birch tree. Existing drainage and a suspected utility service crossing the garden prompted a redesign as a circular pool, the report says. The article does not provide construction dates, costs or technical performance data.
The wider scheme retains the existing terrace, two ponds and much of the planting, including the owners’ fig tree, lily of the valley, raspberries and rhubarb. Other features include a raised kitchen garden, grapevine pergola, firepit, boulder seating and outdoor shower. An edible hedge combines hazel, hawthorn, blackberry, black chokeberry, damson, pear and serviceberry, linking the garden to the meadow and surrounding landscape.
A Garden Built for Daily Use
The project brings several uses into one space: swimming, food growing, family gatherings and wildlife habitat. That matters to the owners because the garden was previously underused, while swimming meant travelling to rivers. The pond is intended to make outdoor recreation part of everyday life rather than an occasional trip.
The design also treats the swimming area as part of a larger garden ecosystem. According to the report, planting softens the pond’s edges and the owners have seen dragonflies and bats. They say frogs, toads and newts breed in the ponds and that birds use a shallow beach area to bathe. These are observations attributed to the clients, not an independent ecological survey.
Keeping existing ponds and plants, adding an edible hedge and leaving the meadow uncut over winter are further choices that connect the garden’s appearance with habitat and food production. The project shows how the owners’ leisure needs and their stated aim of supporting wildlife shaped the same design, though the source does not quantify ecological outcomes.
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From River Trips to Home Swimming
The clients’ brief combined a desire for a natural swimming experience with a wildlife-friendly garden that felt connected to the surrounding Buckinghamshire countryside. They also wanted a place to grow food, entertain and spend more time outside. The project account says the pool was designed to be used throughout the seasons, but gives no operating record or information about how often the owners swim.
Planting was arranged to provide seasonal interest, with the clients asking for colour and texture in autumn. The report names ornamental grasses such as Miscanthus ‘Beth Chatto’ and Carex testacea, alongside perennials and shrubs selected for structure and autumn colour. The meadow is left uncut over winter, according to the account, to provide seeds and overwintering space for insects, birds and small mammals.
“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
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What the Project Account Leaves Open
The source does not state when the garden was completed, how much the work cost or whether the natural pool has been independently assessed for water quality, ecological impact or energy use. It also does not detail maintenance needs, filtration performance or how the pool is managed in winter. The clients’ reports of wildlife are attributed observations; the article provides no survey data to establish changes in species numbers.
The utility service that contributed to changing the pool design is described as suspected, rather than confirmed. No further information is given about its location or how the final layout addressed it.
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Use and Care Over the Seasons
The project account describes a completed garden and the owners’ experience of using it, but does not announce further work or provide a future project timetable. The practical next chapter is its ongoing seasonal use and care: the owners describe swimming through the seasons, while the planting plan includes a meadow left uncut over winter and a kitchen garden intended to produce food.
No future monitoring, maintenance plan or ecological assessment is mentioned. Any claims about the pool’s long-term performance or effects on wildlife would require additional information beyond the published account.
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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 the Homes and Gardens report.
How does the natural swimming pond work?
The pond has a clear swim zone and a planted regeneration zone. The aquatic planting in the regeneration zone is intended to provide hydrobotanical filtration. The source does not provide technical performance or water-testing details.
What wildlife have the owners reported seeing?
The owners say they have seen frogs, toads, newts, dragonflies, bats and a water snake, and that birds use the pond’s beach area. These are client observations quoted in the report, not results from a published ecological survey.
Why was the pond redesigned as a circle?
The original proposal was a linear pond intended to reflect a mature birch tree. The design changed after existing drainage and a suspected utility service crossing the garden affected the layout, according to the report.
What other features are in the garden?
The garden includes a raised kitchen garden, grapevine pergola, edible hedge, chalk meadow and firepit, as well as an outdoor shower and retained existing ponds and planting.
Source: rss
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