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 Paradise 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.

See Paradise Garden Project