In 2014, Carlops Kirk Session and Carlops Village Centre Management Committee agreed a joint project to re-landscape the ground between the church and the hall.  At that time, the area was not imaginatively developed and was divided by a deteriorating stone wall. The project aimed to improve access to and between the church and the hall, and create an attractive, integrated space hospitable to a range of activities,

Detailed objectives were agreed by the Church and the Hall, and supported by the community at large.  Carlops residents Hannah and Guy Walters proposed a design to meet these objectives.  Drawings were prepared, engineering investigations undertaken and costings sought.

Planning permission was obtained in 2016.  Funds were raised in 2016-17.  62% of the money required was supplied by four grant providers; 22% came from individual donors in Carlops; the Church and the Hall donated 8% each.  Construction began in autumn 2017 and the patio-garden was inaugurated in June 2018.

The patio-garden has several environmentally-friendly features: a deteriorating wall which formerly divided the site was dismantled carefully and the stone re-used to create the patio-garden’s walls and banks; seating was constructed from recycled timber; and the planting features a high proportion of native plants.