Tour the American Museum & Gardens in Bath, England

It takes a lot to impress persnickety British gardeners, but an American landmark atop a scenic bluff in southwest England perseveres. “Visitors are bowled over by the audacity of the plantings,” says Andy Cannell, the Royal Horticulture Society–trained head gardener at the American Museum & Gardens, the gallery housed at Bath’s Claverton Manor celebrating American decorative arts traditions.

oehme van sweden bath england garden turf amphitheater

A turf amphitheater hosts summer concerts and plays.

COURTESY OF PETER HALL PHOTOGRAPHY/AMERICAN MUSEUM

With funding raised in the United States, the grounds of the Italianate estate were renovated in 2018 by Washington, D.C.–based landscape architecture firm Oehme, van Sweden. Their aim: transform the steep and lumpy terrain between the ticketing pavilion and the 1820s manor house into a welcoming oasis with sweeping views over Limpley Stoke Valley and River Avon.

oehme van sweden bath england garden winding way

The Winding Way.

COURTESY OF PETER HALL PHOTOGRAPHY/AMERICAN MUSEUM

“These curved paths are so much like Monticello and continually reference the principles of American gardens.” —Bunny Williams, author and interior designer.

To solve the steep grade issue, principal designer Eric Groft referenced another great hilltop garden, Thomas Jefferson’s “winding walk” at Monticello, and devised a 430-yard meandering path that threads through muscular groupings of American natives. “The garden is so bold and graphic that it works well with the contours of the landscape,” says Cannell.

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oehme van sweden bath england garden roses

The Barbara Bovender American Rose Garden greets visitors with more than 400 varieties, including the highly perfumed hybrid tea rose Mister Lincoln.

COURTESY OF PETER HALL PHOTOGRAPHY/AMERICAN MUSEUM

oehme van sweden bath england garden lincoln bust

A bust of the president himself by Angela Conner withLucy Ball alliums.

COURTESY OF PETER HALL PHOTOGRAPHY/AMERICAN MUSEUM

In the early spring there are thousands of daffodils; Knock Out roses, catnip, and allium steal the show by late spring. Perennials and grasses like catmint, marsh spurge, and Culver’s root thrive all summer and fall. “We hear a lot of ‘wows.’ I think this experience really challenges the way British people look at gardens.”