Berkshire Farmhouse

The Project

Following an extensive renovation of the farmhouse, M T S Gardens was appointed to deliver a new landscape designed by Charlotte Sanderson Garden Design, reconnecting the house with its gardens and creating a series of spaces for family life.

A sweeping curved brick and flint wall establishes the form of the rear garden, around which new terraces, steps and pathways create a natural progression from the house towards the swimming pool and wider landscape. Extensive semi-mature tree planting, pleached trees, herbaceous borders and new lawns bring structure and maturity to the garden, while a newly constructed driveway and natural stone threshold complete the sense of arrival.

Project information

Location: Berkshire

Project Type: Country House Garden & Landscape

Services: Landscape Construction | Soft landscaping & Planting | Mature trees

Key Elements: Terraces | Driveway | Stepping Stone Pathway | Pleached Trees | Multi-Stemmed Trees | Herbaceous Planting

Designer: Charlotte Sanderson Design

Completion Date: November 2021

Photography: M T S Gardens

The Story

The renovation of the farmhouse, including the addition of a new conservatory, created an opportunity to reconsider how the house connected with the surrounding garden.

Working to a design by Charlotte Sanderson Garden Design, our role was to translate the scheme from plan to landscape, beginning with the construction of the principal hard-landscape elements. A new terrace and steps were created outside the conservatory, alongside an entrance terrace and a further rear terrace leading into the garden.

From here, a generous stepping-stone path creates a journey through the planting towards a new terrace surrounding the swimming pool. The garden is given its distinctive form by a large sweeping brick and flint wall, completed by the renovation team, whose curve helps define the space while providing a strong architectural counterpoint to the softer landscape around it.

Once construction was complete, the focus shifted to establishing the garden. Extensive ground preparation was followed by the planting of semi-mature trees and pleached specimens, providing immediate structure, screening and separation between different areas. New lawns and extensive herbaceous planting then began to soften the hard landscape and knit the individual spaces together.

The final phase addressed the arrival at the property. Following the installation of new electric gates, we constructed a new driveway and natural stone entrance threshold, carrying the same attention to materials and detail from the garden through to the property's entrance.

The result is a garden composed of distinct spaces that remain connected as a whole — structured enough to complement the architecture of the renovated farmhouse, but planted with the expectation that it will soften, mature and become increasingly established with time.

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.