A stone house with a red tile roof, surrounded by a garden with daisies and trees, with sunlight filtering through the leaves.

Wiltshire Farmhouse Garden
Wraparound farmhouse gardens

When our clients moved into their 17th-century farmhouse near Bradford on Avon, they inherited the challenge of harmonising that legacy with a contemporary renovation. Our brief was to design a garden in three distinct stages, each responding to a different face of the house.

The Front Garden

The approach to the house began at the threshold with a tactile gravel garden, soft planting fraying gradually until it dissolves into a wildflower meadow - deliberate and true to the farmhouse's rural setting. Threading through this space, a serpentine hedge of Phillyrea angustifolia draws the eye from one focal point to the next, like a ribbon. A low drystone wall, built in keeping with local vernacular, works alongside a line of pleached trees to form a living screen for privacy. Near the house's existing water feature, we introduced small maze hedges and statement topiary, adding to the quiet formality. At the top of the garden, a circular stone seating area offers a place to reflect, before stone steps lead visitors down into the wildflower meadow below.

Stage Two: The Side Garden

To the side of the house, a stretch of the original farmhouse concrete has been carefully preserved and repurposed, leading the visitor onward into a newly laid patio - a mix between old and new.

Hornbeams frame this space, while the planting beneath is deliberately restrained: ferns, ornamental Carex grasses, and wood asters bring texture and quiet movement. The borders flanking the path are a lively, fragrant mix of culinary herbs and edible flowers bringing colour and scent.

Stage Three: The Courtyard Garden

Here, the client's Egyptian heritage became a guiding inspiration. Glazed green tiles from Otto and water feature from Pots and Pithoi bring texture and and sound to the courtyard, with doors and windows painted green. Exotic planting in a rich palette of reds, oranges and browns creates a sun-soaked atmosphere.

What has emerged is a peaceful and thriving habitat, with three distinct spaces. Our wonderful clients share their garden with hares, stoats, dormice, voles and owls. Ongoing maintenance and habitat development by gardener, Grace, continues to ensure the garden grows wilder and more diverse.

Digital rendering of a garden with various flowers, shrubs, and decorative structures, including an arched doorway, a fountain, and a large vertical element on the right, against a black background.
Front view of a stone house with a small garden and potted plants, featuring a bay window and a white door surrounded by lush greenery and flowering plants.
A stone house with a red tiled roof, surrounded by a lush green garden with trimmed bushes, flowers, and outdoor seating, partially framed by out-of-focus green leaves in the foreground.
A lush garden with various trees, shrubs, and flowering plants, including purple irises. A stone fountain with water is centered in the foreground. There's a seating area with chairs, and a stone building wall visible on the right. The background shows dense green foliage and tall trees under an overcast sky.

“A design that delighted us and then a reality that exceeded all expectations.”

Sophie

A garden pathway lined with various lush green plants and bushes, leading to trees in the background on a partly cloudy day.
A lush garden with a gravel pathway surrounded by green plants, bushes, and flowers, with a grassy area and trees in the background.
Green plants and grass with large flat rocks in the foreground.
A garden pathway surrounded by lush green foliage and white blooming flowers.
A backyard with lush green grass, stone steps, a variety of trees and bushes, and a cloudy sky overhead.
Aerial view of a spacious garden with a stone pathway, a round pond with a decorative fountain, lush green bushes, trees, and a patio area with a table and chairs, adjacent to a house with a blue roof.
A charming outdoor garden patio with a round table and four black chairs, surrounded by lush green plants and white flowering bushes, next to a rustic stone building with white window frames.
A stone wall with a small window, surrounded by green plants and white daisies in pots, with outdoor chairs on the left.
A round outdoor table with four dark green chairs on a brick patio. Two potted plants are on the table, and there are more plants and trees surrounding the patio. In the background, there is a house with stone and stucco walls, a brick chimney, and a sloped roof. The sky is cloudy.
A small outdoor patio area viewed from above, with a round table, four chairs, potted plants, and a small garden with yellow and green foliage along the back wall.
A top-down view of a building with a green lawn, trees, and a parking area. A white sign with a green logo is displayed near the entrance.

Design and build: Eaglestone Gardens

Gardener: Grace Axon Gardens

Photography: Eva Nemeth & Tom Eaglestone