Contemporary Swimming Pool Garden, Henley-on-Thames

Overview

We were commissioned to redesign the garden surrounding an existing swimming pool as part of the client’s wider pool refurbishment project. The brief was to create a contemporary, low-maintenance garden featuring a bespoke pool house, changing rooms and an outdoor kitchen, providing a stylish and practical space for entertaining and relaxation.

Working closely with the client and architect, we were heavily involved in the design and layout of both the garden buildings and the surrounding landscape. This collaborative approach ensured a seamless integration between the architecture and the planting, creating a cohesive outdoor living space that connects the swimming pool garden with the wider garden and the surrounding landscape.

The result is a contemporary garden design that combines clean architectural lines, functional outdoor spaces and carefully considered planting to deliver a timeless, elegant and easy-to-maintain landscape.

Garden Zoning for Outdoor Living and Entertaining

A key objective of this contemporary garden design was to create a series of distinct outdoor spaces that support both everyday living and entertaining. As passionate gardeners, the clients had a clear vision for how they wanted to use the garden, allowing the design to be carefully zoned around the refurbished swimming pool.

The sunniest area of the garden was dedicated to a generous sunbathing terrace with space for loungers, while the opposite side of the pool features a welcoming fire pit terrace for relaxed evening gatherings. Self-binding gravel was selected to create a softer, more natural surface, complemented by generous drifts of Pennisetum ‘Cassian’s Choice’. The flowing ornamental grasses create an intimate, sheltered atmosphere while echoing the character of the surrounding wildflower meadow and strengthening the connection between the formal garden and the wider landscape.

At the eastern end of the swimming pool, a bespoke outdoor kitchen provides a fully equipped entertaining hub, complete with a large gas barbecue, drinks fridge, sink and television. The outdoor kitchen is clad in Vande Moortel Roman bricks, carefully selected to complement the brick detailing used throughout the garden’s paving and pathway junctions, creating a cohesive contemporary aesthetic.

To seamlessly connect the swimming pool garden with the surrounding landscape, natural stepping stones weave through richly planted borders, allowing movement between spaces with minimal disturbance to the planting. This subtle approach softens the transition from the structured garden to the expansive wildflower meadow beyond, enhancing the sense of scale and creating a harmonious relationship between the ornamental planting and the wider landscape.

This carefully considered garden zoning ensures that every area has a clear purpose while maintaining strong visual links throughout the landscape, resulting in a contemporary garden that is both highly functional and deeply connected to its rural setting.

Bold, Naturalistic Planting Design

The planting scheme for this contemporary swimming pool garden was designed to be both striking and easy to maintain. As the clients already care for an extensive and richly planted garden elsewhere on the property, the brief called for a low-maintenance planting design that would provide maximum impact with minimal intervention. The planting also needed to perform at its peak from early to late summer, when the swimming pool and surrounding outdoor spaces are used most frequently.

To create a strong visual connection with the neighbouring wildflower meadow, we developed a naturalistic planting scheme built around a matrix of ornamental grasses. This contemporary approach provides year-round structure while allowing a carefully edited palette of perennials to weave naturally through the planting, creating rhythm, movement and seasonal interest.

Architectural flower forms, including Allium sphaerocephalon, Anthericum ramosum and Digitalis ferruginea ‘Gigantea’, introduce vertical accents that echo the species found in native grasslands and meadows. These are complemented by sweeping drifts of ornamental grasses such as Molinia ‘Poul Petersen’, Sesleria autumnalis and Stipa gigantea, which bring texture, softness and movement to the garden throughout the summer months.

As the grasses sway in the breeze and catch the warm evening light, the planting blurs the boundary between the formal pool garden and the surrounding landscape. The result is a bold yet understated garden planting design that celebrates naturalistic planting principles while delivering a beautiful, resilient and low-maintenance garden perfectly suited to modern outdoor living.

Structural Planting for Year-Round Garden Interest

Structural planting forms the backbone of every successful garden design. It establishes form, scale and proportion, creating a framework that provides year-round interest while bringing balance, rhythm and cohesion to the landscape. By combining evergreen structure with carefully selected ornamental trees, a garden continues to feel purposeful and beautiful in every season.

For this contemporary swimming pool garden, the existing Yew hedging provided the inspiration for the structural planting strategy. Large clipped blocks of Taxus baccata (Yew) were introduced to the south of the pool, echoing the mature hedge to the north. Rather than formal straight lines, the hedges were sculpted into gently undulating forms, introducing movement and softness while retaining a strong architectural presence. Their flowing silhouettes contrast beautifully with the surrounding ornamental grasses, creating a gradual transition between the formal pool garden and the naturalistic wildflower meadow beyond.

Additional structural planting includes espalier-trained apple trees positioned behind the sun terrace, where they soften the height of the existing Yew hedge while providing delicate spring blossom and ornamental autumn fruit. Along the southern boundary, traditionally pleached ornamental pear trees create an elegant canopy that frames views across the surrounding landscape, introduces seasonal colour and blossom, and provides valuable shelter from prevailing winds.

Elsewhere within the garden, standard ornamental pear trees, Cornus kousa (Japanese Dogwood) and Amelanchier were carefully selected to extend seasonal interest through blossom, autumn foliage and attractive bark. Mature existing specimens, including a magnificent Elder and sculptural topiarised Cotoneaster, were retained as integral features of the design, contributing maturity, character and biodiversity while reinforcing the garden’s established sense of place.

The result is a carefully layered structural planting scheme that anchors the contemporary landscape, complements the softer naturalistic planting, and ensures the garden remains visually compelling throughout the year.