Bath Period Home

The Project

Following an extensive two-year renovation of this Grade II listed Georgian villa in Bath, M T S Gardens was appointed to complete the landscape through a comprehensive programme of planting, specimen tree installation and carefully considered additions to the existing hard landscaping.

Our planting design was developed around two priorities: creating greater privacy and introducing height and maturity without compromising the property's views across the wider Bath landscape. Significant Taxus hedging and specimen trees established the garden's new structure, complemented by a restrained palette of white and soft pink planting, ornamental grasses and textural foliage.

Reclaimed cobbles were used to create additional seating areas and complete existing pathways, while a species-rich lawn and irrigation helped establish a softer, more natural garden around the historic property. Our involvement continues today as we maintain and establish the landscape.

Project information

Location: Bath

Project Type: Georgian Villa Garden

Services: Garden Design | Semi-Mature Tree Planting | Soft Landscaping | Wildflower Establishment | Landscape Construction | Maintenance

Key Elements: Specimen Trees | Fagus Topiary | Reclaimed Cobbles | Herbaceous Planting | Species Rich Lawn

Designer: Planting Design - M T S Gardens

Completion Date: April 2026

Photography: M T S Gardens

The Story

After a two-year renovation involving substantial work to both the house and grounds, the owners of this Grade II listed Georgian villa approached M T S Gardens to complete the landscape.

Much of the garden's underlying structure was already in place. Our task was therefore not to start again, but to introduce the horticultural layers, maturity and final details that would allow the newly constructed landscape to settle around the historic house.

Privacy Without Losing the View

The property's elevated position provides views across the wider Bath landscape, but also presented a challenge. The clients wanted greater privacy within the garden without creating a boundary that would disconnect them from the setting beyond.

We began by developing a detailed planting design, carefully considering where evergreen structure, hedging and specimen trees could provide screening while preserving important sightlines.

Significant Taxus hedging units were positioned to create immediate structure and privacy. Three large specimen Amelanchier, five silver birch, six sculptural Fagus topiary forms and a Cornus kousa were then introduced throughout the garden, providing height, seasonal interest and a greater sense of maturity from the outset.

Rather than simply screening the boundaries, the trees were positioned as part of the composition of the garden — framing views, creating depth and allowing glimpses of the Bath landscape to remain an important part of the experience.

Bringing Mature Trees into the City

Installing trees of this scale presented a significant logistical challenge.

The villa sits alongside a busy Bath road with extremely restricted access to the garden, making conventional delivery and installation impossible.

Careful planning and coordination with the local authority allowed the operation to be undertaken using a large HIAB. The specimen trees were lifted over the property boundary and craned directly into the garden before being carefully positioned and planted.

It was a relatively short moment within the overall project, but one requiring considerable preparation and coordination — and one that allowed us to introduce a level of scale and maturity that would otherwise have taken many years to achieve.

Completing the Garden

With the principal trees and structural planting in place, attention turned to the remaining hard-landscape elements.

Two additional seating areas were constructed using reclaimed cobbles, introducing places to sit amongst the planting while ensuring the new interventions felt appropriate to the age and character of the property.

Further reclaimed cobbles were incorporated into the existing pathways within the front garden, helping new and existing elements of the landscape feel part of the same material language.

A Softer Layer

Extensive soil preparation was undertaken before the remainder of the planting design was implemented.

The planting palette was deliberately restrained, with predominantly white and soft pink flowers accompanied by contrasting foliage and ornamental grasses. Variation in form, texture and movement brings richness to the planting without overwhelming the architecture or competing with the wider views.

A species-rich lawn formed the final horticultural layer, introducing greater diversity and a softer character to the garden.

Irrigation was installed to support both the newly planted trees and the wider planting through the critical establishment period.

Establishing the Landscape

Our involvement has continued beyond the initial installation.

The M T S Gardens maintenance team now cares for the garden as it establishes, managing the trees, hedging, herbaceous planting and species-rich lawn as they develop.

This stage is particularly important in a garden built around substantial new planting. As the trees develop their canopies, hedging knits together and the herbaceous planting begins to fill the spaces between them, the character of the garden will continue to change.

Bath Period Home is a landscape designed not to compete with its remarkable setting, but to frame it — creating privacy and a sense of enclosure close to the house while preserving the views and wider landscape that make the property so special.

Creating a garden of your own?

Whether working directly with private clients or alongside garden designers and landscape architects, we deliver landscapes from construction through planting, establishment and long-term care.