Blog Case study
Some projects go exactly to plan. Yew Tree Farm went to plan and then turned up a genuine surprise halfway through.
The Vision: From Blank Canvas to Tranquil Courtyard
The brief was to transform a walled courtyard — surrounded by rustic brick farm buildings near Appleton Thorn — into a serene, elegant garden that complemented the historic character of the property while introducing some modern landscaping ideas. The design brought together pleached trees for structure and privacy, gravel pathways bordered by cobblestones for a timeless finish, a central gazebo as the courtyard’s focal point, and carefully planned beds for seasonal interest.
Preparing the Groundwork
The project began with a genuinely blank slate: a walled courtyard with nothing in it beyond the brick buildings around its edges. We levelled the space, installed drainage, and set out the pathway lines with precision, adding cobblestone borders to give the layout texture and definition before anything else went in.
Pleached Trees for Structure
Pleached trees were selected and planted to give the courtyard a structured yet airy feel — tall enough to add height and privacy, trained flat enough not to close the space in. They’re one of the few plants that genuinely solve the “privacy without losing the view” problem a walled courtyard like this one poses, and they were central to the design from the first sketch.
Restoring the Well Shaft
Partway through the groundworks, we uncovered something nobody had planned for: a hidden well shaft, buried under the courtyard floor. Rather than simply covering it back over, we recognised it as a genuine piece of the property’s history worth keeping. We carefully cleaned it out and crafted a new sandstone rim to give it a refined, safe edge, then covered it with reinforced glass and installed internal lighting — turning a structural hazard into the courtyard’s most striking feature, lit from within after dark.
Adding the Gazebo
A bespoke wooden gazebo was built as the courtyard’s centrepiece, with a natural wood finish designed to sit comfortably against the surrounding brick walls rather than compete with them. It gives the space both a functional shaded seating area and a clear focal point when viewed from any of the courtyard’s approaches.
The Final Touches
With the hardscaping complete, we finished with planting beds carrying seasonal interest around the courtyard’s edges, softening the brick and stone with colour that changes through the year rather than a single static planting scheme.
The Result
What began as an empty walled space between farm buildings is now a genuinely distinctive garden — pleached trees for privacy and structure, cobbled paths, a gazebo, and a piece of the property’s history restored and lit as a feature rather than covered over and forgotten. It’s one of the more unusual projects in our portfolio, and a good reminder that a good groundworks team pays attention to what’s actually in the ground, not just what the drawing says should be there.
Finding something unexpected during excavation isn’t rare on older Cheshire properties — old field drains, buried footings from long-demolished outbuildings, and yes, the occasional well shaft, particularly on sites with farm buildings this old nearby. What’s rare is treating the discovery as an opportunity rather than a problem to cover up and move past as quickly as possible. That decision, made on site rather than back at the drawing board, is what turned a construction hazard into the feature every visitor to Yew Tree Farm now asks about first.
Planning a Courtyard or Walled Garden?
Walled and courtyard gardens are a genuine speciality — the brief is almost always privacy and structure within a defined space, and pleached trees, cobbled paths and bespoke stonework do most of the work. See our garden design and walls and stonework pages for more, or get in touch if you’re near Altrincham or Appleton Thorn and have a courtyard of your own worth transforming.
