Wiltshire Manor

The Project

Following the renovation of this Wiltshire manor house, M T S Gardens was initially approached to provide greater privacy from a busy road bordering the property. What began as a substantial screening project soon developed into a much broader, long-term vision for the garden and surrounding landscape.

Large evergreen hedging, specimen Taxus and structured planting transformed the approach to the house, before our attention moved to the rear garden. Here, avenues of topiary, specimen trees, woodland planting, a large pond and a secluded summer house began to establish the framework for a garden intended to develop gradually over many years.

Beneath the landscape, extensive drainage works were required to overcome challenging ground conditions and create the foundations upon which the garden could successfully mature.

Project information

Location: Wiltshire

Project Type: Manor House Garden & Landscape

Services: Design | Landscape Construction | Soft Landscaping | Mature Tree & Hedge & Topiary Planting | Drainage & Groundworks

Key Elements: Mature Evergreen Screening | Specimen Taxus & Topiary | Herbaceous Planting | Specimen Trees | Pond & Fountain | Gravel Pathways with Cobbled Edging | Rainwater Management | Long Term Landscape Development

Designer: M T S Gardens & Client

Completion Date: Ongoing

Photography: M T S Gardens

The Story

Our relationship with Wiltshire Manor began shortly after the clients acquired the recently renovated property. Although our early conversations explored ambitions for the garden as a whole, there was one immediate priority: creating privacy along the property's boundary with a busy road and bus route.

Waiting years for conventional hedging to establish wasn't appropriate, so we sourced and planted a substantial length of mature evergreen hedging, beginning at approximately three metres in height. The result provided an immediate screen and fundamentally changed the sense of privacy within the grounds.

With the boundary established, attention turned to the entrance of the house. New planting beds were created and planted with topiary and herbaceous perennials, while larger Taxus specimens introduced permanent structure and helped reinforce the existing avenue formed by the driveway and pathway towards the front door. The intention was not to compete with the architecture, but to soften its setting and give the arrival a greater sense of maturity.

Establishing the bones of the garden

At the rear of the property, we worked directly with the clients to develop a long-term concept for both the existing garden and an additional area of land they had recently acquired.

Rather than attempting to complete everything at once, the decision was made to establish the bones of the landscape first — creating the structure around which the garden could continue to develop over a number of years.

An avenue of topiary was introduced to create a strong visual journey towards a large pond and fountain. Specimen trees were positioned throughout the main garden to provide scale and structure, while a more informal winding path leads through trees and woodland planting towards a lead-roofed summer house overlooking the water.

The contrast between these elements gives the garden much of its character: formal structure closer to the manor gradually gives way to a softer and more immersive landscape beyond.

Solving what lay beneath

Before that landscape could establish successfully, however, there was a significant problem beneath the surface.

The garden sits on extremely heavy clay, and an existing winterbourne had previously been filled in during the property's redevelopment. During wet periods, the ground was unable to drain effectively, making a comprehensive drainage strategy essential to the future of the garden.

Extensive land drainage was installed throughout the affected areas and connected to a rainwater harvesting system. An overflow and pumping system was then incorporated to direct excess water towards the winterbourne at the front of the property, where it could disperse naturally.

Much of this infrastructure is now invisible, but it is fundamental to the landscape above it — protecting the soil, planting and lawns while allowing the garden to establish successfully.

A landscape still evolving

Wiltshire Manor was never conceived as a garden with a single completion date.

The work undertaken so far has established its framework: privacy and arrival at the front, structure and movement through the rear garden, significant trees and planting, water within the landscape, and the infrastructure necessary to support everything above it.

As those elements mature, our ambition is to continue developing both the existing garden and the additional land beyond, gradually adding further layers to the landscape while respecting the structure already established.

Rather than creating a garden for the moment, the aim is to establish a landscape capable of becoming richer, more mature and more compelling with each successive phase.

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.