A Village Pub Reimagined

A family garden devoted to seasonal beauty, food and flowers

The brief for this property was incredibly compelling – to transform the uninspiring and tired grounds of a former village pub into a plant-rich, layered series of immersive garden rooms, blending functionality, beauty, and ecological sensitivity.

The owners are a passionate gardening couple with two young children, who wanted to breathe new life into a historic property and its grounds.  Their focus was to establish a strong visual and functional connection with the surrounding countryside, and to create a series of intimate and horticulturally diverse garden spaces seamlessly connected through planting, sightlines, and purposeful circulation.

Our design reflected the family’s lifestyle and their strong connection to nature, while respecting the property’s rich heritage.  The overarching goal was to completely dissolve the remaining traces of its previous life as the village pub by reimagining the former paddock and car park – spaces once defined by vehicles and function – into intimate, people-focused garden rooms that speak to the rhythms of family life, seasonal gardening and a connection to place.

A multi-roomed garden design integrated a variety of key zones including a vegetable garden, swimming pool and entertaining area, and a snug cottage garden with a private terrace bordered by herbs and lavender.  A circular main lawn, complemented by quiet reflective corners within a wildflower garden, and an Amelanchier glade with gravel gardens and planted viewing corridors, connect the garden emotionally and visually to the wider Wiltshire countryside beyond.

The production garden is grounded by bespoke cobble-laid paths, carefully set by hand to create a strong axial structure and celebrate artisanal craft. These paths offer a rhythm and permanence that complement the looser forms of the surrounding planting, while making the space not only functional, but visually striking.

The pool garden sat within a narrow, pinched space that required careful spatial planning to create a sense of depth and openness which didn’t physically exist. To achieve this, we used a series of bespoke stone pillars paired with delicately crafted, one-off iron arches that span gracefully between them. These structural elements support a planting framework of Wisteria floribunda and climbing roses, creating soft alcoves to break up the space and deceive the eye into perceiving greater width and depth.

The poolside planting begins with the abundant early blooms of Wisteria formosa, followed by a layered, late-season palette of herbaceous perennials. Together, this mix brings extended seasonal interest, rich textural contrast, and a haven for pollinators, blending craftsmanship and planting in equal measure to create a restful, immersive poolside atmosphere.

Each garden room holds its own planting character: soft perennial borders flow near the house, with a restrained naturalism that allows movement and air; the wildflower margins introduce looser, seasonal swells; edible beds are tucked between espaliered fruit and herbs; and young flowering trees punctuate open lawn areas with moments of softness and light. The overall feel is one of refined informality, a garden designed to evolve, to grow with a family, and to be full of life.

A significant addition of native trees and shrubs across the property weaves the garden into the wider landscape and invites a richer tapestry of wildlife, from pollinators in the borders to birds in the hedgerows and thickets. This quiet but deliberate ecological layer supports the garden’s ethos: productive, beautiful, and biodiverse.

The former oversized car park was scaled back and reshaped to become a more modest, formally planted driveway. This area now features a restrained palette of structural and elegant species including Magnolia grandiflora, Hydrangea arborescens, Anemanthele lessoniana grasses, Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’, Hellebores, and Alchemilla mollis, allowing it to transition fluidly from the house and driveway out into the more relaxed garden rooms.

To reinforce the village character and break from the pub identity, the front of the property was also reworked. The introduction of a small gravel garden, bordered by a traditional village garden wall, helps ground the property in the street scene and reframe it as a home rather than a former public house. This is supported by subtle architectural painting and soft, tactile planting that welcomes rather than imposes.

To screen the property and create privacy along the boundaries, we used staggered planting of shrubs and trees, including Ilex ‘Nellie Stevens.’ This was combined with layered, lower-level planting to draw the eye and avoid the need for imposing single-height hedging or fencing.

At its heart, this is not a grand landscaping statement:  it’s a story of transformation and intimacy and the reclamation of a public, often utilitarian space into a deeply personal, richly planted, multi-functional family garden. It is a garden designed not to impress from a distance but to be lived in, worked in, nurtured, and constantly evolved by its passionate owners. Every space has a purpose, every plant a place, and every step through the garden offers a new layer to the unfolding story.