Courtyard Gardens, Bath | melanie jackson garden design

Before: a jumble of materials badly placed and worn made for a gloomy outlook.

Before : a mix of builders rubble and rubbish

Courtyards

Brief

To re invigorate a tired and dark courtyard garden.

This garden had fallen into disrepair. The astroturf and paving combination had perished creating a slippery damp space.

Solution

I used the same paving throughout the garden which was light in colour and made of natural stone: this created a feeling of space. The borders were made wider to allow larger plants and more interest throughout the year, which also helped disguise the bland fence that surrounded the garden. New timber raised beds were introduced to give a head start for the climbers to grow up the arch and over the very high fence at the back.

City Centre Yard

A long narrow plot squeezed in between the high wall of a Georgian building and a hedge. The space was once an old tenement house but was bombed and subsequently pulled down. The client wanted a garden that looked like it had been designed long ago, to reflect this historic setting of Bath, but also to encourage wildlife. The layout was simple and elegant, using stone found on site and gravel , in keeping with the local vernacular. Soft herbaceous planting to attract pollinators along with a pond, ensures many insects and beneficial garden wildlife can now thrive here.