Design commissions – typically a 3 month waiting list. Consultations allow 4 weeks. Please get in touch if you would like to plan ahead.
Design commissions – typically a 3 month waiting list. Consultations allow 4 weeks. Please get in touch if you would like to plan ahead.
Garden & planting design, implementation with creative collaborations
This compact garden is designed as a calm, restorative outdoor spa room – demonstrating how even a small space can become a place to unwind and reconnect with nature.
Conceived with wellbeing at its core, it explores how a carefully integrated sauna and thoughtful spatial design and planting can transform an underused garden into a year-round retreat.
This garden responds to the growing desire for outdoor spaces that support wellbeing at home, particularly for downsizing homeowners or younger couples seeking a dedicated spa-like environment. With a footprint of just 4 x 5 metres, the design proves that a two-person sauna can be successfully incorporated into even the smallest of gardens. The addition of an outdoor shower enhances the experience – offering both a cooling contrast to the sauna and a refreshing feature during warmer months – helping to extend the usability of the garden throughout the year.
The garden was constructed by Landmasons Ltd, Skipton.
The design draws on Nordic landscape principles:
The sauna is intentionally integrated within the garden, allowing planting and spatial flow to take precedence so the structure feels immersed rather than dominant.
A hardwood timber boardwalk provides a warm, tactile surface underfoot, while locally sourced Yorkshire sandstone introduces a grounded, textural contrast through the patio, seating and sculptural elements. Materials have been selected not only for their aesthetic qualities, but for how they weather over time – enhancing the garden’s character as it matures.
Small spaces are designed to millimetres to ensure the space is optimised.
Planting plays a central role in shaping the atmosphere. Clear-stem trees introduce height and light screening without enclosing the space, while a restrained green palette creates a calming planting against dark-stained boundaries that visually recede.
Gravel planting encourages natural self-seeding and introduces a sense of informality and airiness, avoiding visual clutter.
Seasonal interest is concentrated within a bespoke planter, allowing for change and personal expression throughout the year, while maintaining the overall simplicity of the scheme.
A 2-person Wildhut OHK sauna is a source of relaxation, warmth and comfort
Enduring materials include hardwood, stone and metal to withstand harsh weather throughout the year.
Colour palette for materials and planting chosen to unify the scheme and simplify the space.
Low maintenance planting is relaxed and nature-led. Seasonal planting in bespoke planter.
Melissa Morton Garden & Landscape Design commissioned local artisans to showcase the creative use of enduring materials.
The beautiful stone birds are made by Jennifer Tetlow Sculpture. The furniture has been crafted by Burnt Orchid.
