Bath back gardens tend to share a handful of constraints: a slope you can't easily change, walled boundaries you can't alter, awkward back-of-house access, and at least one previous owner's attempt at something that didn't quite work. A well-designed landscape works around all of those before it starts looking pretty.
Stage 1: Survey and brief (Week 0–2)
Nothing useful happens without a measured survey. We turn up with a laser level and a measure, plot the boundaries, mark the levels (Bath gardens are rarely flat), note where light falls, identify the drainage, and tag any planting worth keeping. From that drawing we then talk through what you want — how you actually use the space, not just what looks nice in magazines.
Questions worth answering before we arrive
- How many people sit out, and where do they want shade?
- BBQ? Fire pit? Outdoor kitchen?
- Kids — for the next 5 years or the next 15?
- Lawn — real or artificial, and how much actual use does it get?
- Dogs?
- Storage — bins, bikes, garden tools, log store?
Stage 2: Design (Week 2–6)
Design pulls four threads together: levels (cut and fill, retaining walls), hard landscaping (patios, paths, steps, raised planters), planting (structure, colour, scent, seasonality) and services (lighting, irrigation, drainage, power for the garden room you'll definitely want one day).
We'll usually present a plan view, two or three perspectives, a planting palette, and a costed materials schedule. Iteration takes 2–3 weeks. Then it's signed off and we move to build.
Stage 3: Build (Week 6 onwards)
The build always runs in the same order: strip out → drainage → levels and walls → hard landscaping → planting → lawn → lighting → snag. Skipping or reordering causes problems (you can't plant before levels are right; you can't lay turf before lighting cables go in).
Typical site time for a Bath back garden
- Small garden (under 50m²): 2–4 weeks
- Mid-sized terrace garden (50–120m²): 4–8 weeks
- Full back garden with levels and walls (120m²+): 8–12 weeks
Realistic 2026 Bath budgets
These bands cover most projects we're asked to do. Plus or minus 15% for site complexity.
- Cosmetic refresh (new patio + planting + tidy): £8,000–£18,000
- Mid-scope redesign (levels, patio, new fencing, planting, lawn): £20,000–£45,000
- Full landscape (retaining walls, terracing, hard landscaping, lighting, full planting): £45,000–£90,000+
The right time to spend on landscaping is when you've decided you're staying. A well-designed garden adds value at sale, but the real return is the 5+ years of using it.
Where Bath gardens cost more than you'd expect
Three things bite people: (1) access — if everything has to come through the house, multiply muck-away costs by 2–3x; (2) walls — Bath gardens love a stone wall, and dry-stone or rendered block walls add fast; (3) levels — every metre of retained level needs proper drainage behind it. None of this is a reason not to do it; it's a reason to budget honestly.
Where they cost less than you'd expect
Mature gardens often have excellent existing structure — a magnolia, a yew hedge, a corner Bath stone wall — that the right design preserves and works around. Spending less on the bones and more on the connections (a beautiful patio, the right path, considered lighting) often delivers more impact than a full strip-and-redo.
One last thing: design fees
Design-only packages (drawings + planting palette + materials schedule, no install) start around £1,200 for a small garden and £2,500–£5,000 for a full back-garden scheme. If you go on to build with us, we credit the design fee against the build cost — so on the bigger projects, the design is effectively free.
If you're thinking about a Bath garden project, the best first step is a free site visit. See our landscaping page for recent work, or get in touch.