Farmhouse on Ilkley Moor: Thoughtful Garden Design, Beautifully Built
A beautiful garden designed and professionally landscaped in Yorkshire
The best landscape projects often have one thing in common. Despite the thought, work and investment behind them, the finished garden feels as though it has always belonged there.
This garden on Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire, does exactly that.
Melissa Morton Garden & Landscape Design created the scheme, with First Light Landscaping Ltd bringing the design to life.
The clients originally had little in the way of a genuinely functional garden. They had some patio, some decking and a large expanse of lawn. What they wanted was a garden that worked properly for family life and entertaining while still sitting comfortably within its exposed rural setting.
Melissa’s response is stylish, thoughtful and, in places, very clever. Rather than impose a fashionable garden onto the site, the design responds to the farmhouse and the wider moorland landscape. There is a substantial amount of new work here, yet the garden never feels excessive or over-designed. That restraint is one of the project’s greatest strengths.
Millboard decking at the heart of the garden
The Millboard deck, oak pergola, reclaimed Yorkstone, stone walling, gabions, gravel and planting all have a clear purpose. Nothing appears to have been added simply for effect.
At the heart of the scheme sits a generous Millboard deck beneath an impressive oak pergola built by Simon Bowler. This is a particularly good example of how decking can work within a wider landscape.
The deck is not an isolated platform dropped into the garden. Instead, it creates a genuine outdoor room. The oak structure defines the space above, while stonework, planting and long views connect it with the garden around it. That distinction matters. Decking works particularly well when the designer treats it as part of the complete landscape rather than as a separate product installation.
The pergola gives the space architectural weight without sacrificing the views. From beneath it, the garden feels comfortable and protected while remaining connected to the countryside beyond.
Reclaimed materials and a strong sense of place
The wider material palette is equally well judged. Repurposed Yorkstone paving gives the new garden an immediate sense of age and continuity. It also helps the new work sit naturally alongside the farmhouse rather than appearing freshly imposed upon it.
Stone walling and gabion walls with oak cappings introduce structure and texture. Gravel from Lightwater Quarrysoftens the transition between the harder landscape elements. Hudson Lighting provides the lighting, while relaxed planting ties the different areas together.
What I particularly like is the way everything connects.
Even the decking, which naturally interests us at Decking Network, succeeds because it forms one part of a complete landscape. It does not try to become the landscape itself.
Designing for an exposed Ilkley Moor site
The photographs make the finished garden look effortless, but the site presented several challenges.
Melissa had to work within a carefully controlled budget, so the design limited intervention where possible. The team also reused existing materials rather than simply discarding them.
The large, exposed site has clay ground and required careful consideration of drainage. Then there was the wildlife.
Deer damaged vulnerable planting, so the team introduced protective cages. Rabbits and the family dog added further challenges. These are exactly the details that distinguish genuine garden design from simply arranging attractive materials. A successful garden has to respond to how the site actually behaves, not just how it looks on a drawing.
The clients first approached Melissa in 2022. Design work began in July 2023 and continued through to spring 2024. Tendering followed during spring and summer. Construction then ran from September 2024 to January 2025.
The build and planting investment came to approximately £250,000–£300,000 including VAT, excluding design fees. That timescale matters. Gardens of this quality rarely happen by accident. Careful design development, good detailing, tendering and professional construction all contribute to the calmness of the finished result.
The project has also been entered for the APL Awards 2027, with judging taking place in August 2026. It is a fitting submission for a scheme that combines strong design thinking with very accomplished landscape construction. Lets see the shortlist… with more to follow after the awards …
A garden designed to be lived in
Perhaps the best measure of the project comes from the clients themselves. Their feedback is refreshingly straightforward. They talk about enjoying the garden, entertaining friends and family, and appreciating the way Melissa understood what they wanted. They also valued the ideas she introduced that they would never have considered themselves.
That says something important about the designer-client relationship.
Good garden design is not about imposing somebody else’s vision. It starts with listening, understanding how people want to use their garden and then taking those ideas somewhere better. The photographs tell much the same story.
This does not feel like a garden created purely for a photoshoot. The furniture, planting and generous entertaining areas make its purpose immediately obvious. It is there to be lived in. For us at Decking Network, that is perhaps the strongest part of the project.
Good decking can create a platform and professional landscaping can build the garden around it. Combine those skills with thoughtful design, however, and the result becomes something far more complete.
This one has been done exceptionally well.
Designer: Melissa Morton Garden & Landscape Design
Landscaper: First Light Landscaping Ltd
Pergola: Simon Bowler
Photography: Ian Lamond Photography
Location: Ilkley Moor, Ilkley, West Yorkshire
Key materials: Millboard decking, oak pergola, reclaimed Yorkstone, stone walling, gabion walls with oak cappings, Lightwater Quarry gravel and Hudson Lighting
Written by Karl Harrison
