Renowned Beer Garden Transformed from Garage Site: A formerly parking lot locale, now boasting striking greenery, has claimed the title of top beer garden in the nation, thanks to its award-winning design.
In the picturesque town of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, a traditional pub garden has been transformed into a high-quality horticultural space. The Plough Shiplake's beer garden, meticulously designed by Tabitha Rigden of Marlow-based Rigden Studio, now offers a thoughtful, contemporary design that seamlessly blends functionality with horticultural excellence.
Tabitha Rigden's focus for the summer season planting was on robust and resilient plants, such as Euphorbia x martini. The new design responds to a practical brief, prioritising ease of use for visitors and staff, while maintaining a long season of planting interest to ensure visual appeal over time.
Key elements of the design and planting strategy include the relocation of the pub's entrance to a quieter side road and the swapping of the pub garden with the car park, elevating the garden's position with better views across the countryside. The approach from the new car park to the pub is along a path bordered by woodland-edge plants, creating a sensory journey that evokes the feeling of a dry Mediterranean bank, with the use of drought-tolerant, Mediterranean-style plants.
The garden features a richly planted retaining bank adjacent to the car park, contributing to the lush atmosphere and soil stabilization. The choice of furniture complements the planting theme, with metal chairs featuring cut-out patterns to maintain translucency and visual lightness, allowing the furniture to blend with the planting rather than dominate the space.
The garden covers around 640 square metres and includes generously sized beds of gravel planting with grasses like Stipa gigantea and Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea 'Transparent'. The planting scheme incorporates flaxen grasses and russet tones, with Mediterranean-style perennials such as Lavandula angustifolia 'Hidcote' and Salvia 'Blue Spire' present.
Tabitha Rigden's approach merges practical considerations with a creative, plant-focused design, elevating the traditional beer garden into a high-quality horticultural space that supports hospitality and community use. For more details about the designer and the project, visit rigdenstudio.co.uk and theploughshiplake.co.uk.
The garden, located at The Plough Shiplake, is exposed due to its hillside location, resulting in a temperate climate. Tabitha Rigden's tips for creating seclusion in a garden include using island-style beds, underplanted multi-stem trees, clipped yew hedging, and a combination of clump-forming ornamental grasses. The hardiness zone for the garden is USDA 8b.
This project was initiated to save a community pub from developers, and it has certainly succeeded in doing so. The Plough Shiplake's beer garden now stands as a testament to Tabitha Rigden's vision and expertise, offering a unique and inviting space for all to enjoy.
The Plough Shiplake's beer garden, revamped by Tabitha Rigden, now boasts a layout that harmoniously combines lifestyle, home-and-garden aesthetics, and horticultural excellence, featuring gardens, plants, and flowers. The richly planted retaining bank, adorned with plants like Euphorbia x martini, Stipa gigantea, Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea 'Transparent', Lavandula angustifolia 'Hidcote', and Salvia 'Blue Spire', contributes to the lush atmosphere and serves as a haven for plants and visitors alike.
