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Annie and Mark planned a rear home extension and a redesigned 150-square-metre garden as one project, connecting the new kitchen-diner to outdoor rooms. The garden includes a rainwater-fed rill and an open-roofed folly; after Mark’s death, Annie says the completed space remains a tribute to their shared work.
Annie and Mark designed a rear home extension and a 150-square-metre garden near York as a connected project, creating outdoor rooms linked to a new kitchen-diner and incorporating a rainwater-fed rill and an open-roofed folly. Annie says the finished garden is now a tribute to Mark, who died after the work was completed.
The couple bought their home in a village outside York in 2018, seeking to live closer to their children’s friends. Their garden was much smaller than the nine-acre grounds at their previous home. Before the redesign, it had a sunken trampoline, a stone path, a small raised deck, bamboo and lawn, Annie told Amateur Gardening.
After renovating the house interior and getting through the worst of the Covid period, the couple turned to its rear and the relationship between the home and garden. They engaged architect Ian Hazard in early 2021. Their aim was for a new kitchen-diner and garden to work as a series of connected spaces for relaxing and entertaining, while preserving enough room for planting and outdoor use.
The project included a garden folly with an open roof and a rill supplied by rainwater. The source report says Mark, an engineer, helped design and build much of the hard landscaping, water features and folly. The garden was completed after the building work, but its design was developed alongside the extension so materials and layout could connect the two.
How the Extension Shaped the Garden
The project shows how decisions about a house extension can affect the size and character of a garden, particularly on a small urban plot. Planning both spaces together gave the couple and their architect a chance to treat the garden as part of the home’s layout, rather than an area left to deal with after construction.
For this household, the design also had practical aims beyond appearance. Annie said the couple wanted a calming, nurturing garden that could support wildlife, provide room for children to spend time with friends, and allow them to grow vegetables. The rainwater-fed rill and planting formed part of that shared plan. The report does not provide figures for water use or ecological impact, so those benefits cannot be quantified from the available information.
The garden’s personal meaning has also changed since the work was finished. Annie described it as a lasting tribute to Mark and to a project they developed together. That detail places the design’s architectural and gardening choices within the couple’s story without changing what is known about the garden’s construction.
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From Trampoline to Outdoor Rooms
Before the renovation, the garden’s main features were a large, aging sunken trampoline, a paved route, a circular deck and seating area, bamboo and grass. Annie said the surrounding red brick walls offered a useful starting point. Existing or previously planted features included an apple tree, wisteria, climbing roses, verbena and clematis, as well as plants brought from the couple’s former home.
Annie and Mark wanted a modern look with texture and colour that worked with the brick, and a garden that felt less dependent on lawn. They discussed planting and structure during visits to Beningbrough and RHS Harlow Carr, according to Annie. Their wish list combined formal and informal planting with places to sit, grow vegetables and enjoy the night sky, as well as a fire space and water features.
Hazard said the design brief covered problems in the home’s internal layout as well as the garden’s lack of design and interest. He described the folly as a link between the new garden room and the architecture of the rear extension. The project used zinc and western red cedar: Hazard said zinc helped unify the extension design, while the cedar slats added warmth and texture.
“It needed to feel like a calming and nurturing space which was productive and supportive of local wildlife.”
— Annie, speaking to Amateur Gardening
What the Report Leaves Unspecified
The report describes the rill as rainwater-fed, but does not explain how rainwater is collected, stored or moved through the feature, or whether the system requires mains-water backup. It also gives no measurements for water capacity, usage or savings.
Details such as the garden’s completion date, construction cost, plant list and ongoing maintenance needs are not stated. The account does not quantify the garden’s effect on local wildlife or explain how the fire area is used. These details should not be inferred from the design description alone.
The Garden’s Continuing Role
The source report presents the garden as a completed project, rather than announcing further building work or a new stage. Annie’s account focuses on how the finished space continues to represent a joint design effort and provides places for planting, sitting and spending time outdoors.
No future construction plans, follow-up measurements or maintenance schedule are included in the report. Any assessment of the rainwater system’s performance or the garden’s longer-term environmental effect would require information beyond the material provided.
Key Questions
Where is the garden?
It is at a home in a village outside York. The source report does not identify the village.
What makes the garden rainwater-fed?
The report identifies a rainwater-fed rill among the garden’s features, but does not describe the collection, storage or delivery system.
How were the extension and garden connected?
The couple and architect planned them together, linking the new kitchen-diner with outdoor rooms. The folly, zinc and western red cedar helped relate the garden design to the extension, according to the report.
Who designed and built the garden features?
Ian Hazard was engaged as the architect. The report says Mark, an engineer, designed and built much of the hard landscaping, water features and folly with Annie’s involvement in the shared project.
When was the garden completed?
Annie said the garden was finished after the building work. The report does not give a specific completion date.
Source: amateurgardening.com
