Rachel Bailey Studio

Rachel Bailey Studio Ecological garden design Glasgow | Helensburgh | West Scotland | By awarding winning and landscape industry registered garden design practice.

With a passion for plants and our natural environment, I bring an expertise in garden design to help you create your perfect garden - however large or small; one tailored to your style, practical needs and budget. Plants add drama and atmosphere to a garden. I also provide a planting plan service, designing planting schemes based on the your site conditions and your style for existing borders as well as your newly designed garden.

A beautiful plant-filled coastal gravel garden we designed and planted two years ago. The garden is mostly planting that...
02/06/2026

A beautiful plant-filled coastal gravel garden we designed and planted two years ago. The garden is mostly planting that envelops a dining area, a fire pit gathering space, and a species-rich lawn. The photographs were taken and sent to us by the client and in their lovely words:

“We are really happy with the garden, the plants have really filled out when compared with pics from last year.”

As part of our aftercare service, we’ll be revisiting over the summer for an annual review and guidance with helping the garden develop to its full potential.

We love revisiting our gardens and seeing the clients we worked with for over a year to bring the garden to fruition. We look forward to our continued relationship as the garden develops under their care.

Designers: Rachel Bailey
Build Team:
Planting team: .gardendesign &

You don’t need to spend a fortune to create your own slice of the Chelsea Flower Show at home. A beautiful, inspiring ga...
29/05/2026

You don’t need to spend a fortune to create your own slice of the Chelsea Flower Show at home. A beautiful, inspiring garden doesn’t have to mean tens of thousands of pounds spent on replacing perfectly good paving or removing mature shrubs and trees that already bring character and structure to your space, and contribute to carbon storage and wildlife habitat.

Often, the most rewarding transformations come from working with what you already have. Existing shrubs and trees can be rejuvenated, planting schemes refreshed, and new borders introduced to breathe fresh life into the garden.

Thoughtfully designed borders can completely change the feel of a space. Borders that wrap around seating areas create a sense of seclusion and immersion, while planting that extends into - or even replaces sections of - the lawn can draw you through the garden and create magical spaces for children and grandchildren to play, explore and imagine.

Sometimes, simply rethinking the layout through planting can give a garden an entirely new identity. It opens up opportunities for richer planting, greater biodiversity and more wildlife, while creating a space that feels beautiful, inviting and somewhere you genuinely want to spend time - all without breaking the bank.

And perhaps most importantly, a garden doesn’t have to be completed all at once. Having a well-considered design and help with understanding how the garden will evolve over time can be one of the best investments you make.

Slow gardening allows you, your plants and the garden itself to grow together naturally, creating a space with depth, character and lasting enjoyment.

Sometimes you can work with what you’ve got hard landscaping wise (except a few new steps) and envelope those areas with...
28/05/2026

Sometimes you can work with what you’ve got hard landscaping wise (except a few new steps) and envelope those areas with huge amounts of planting. The plants were selected based on habitat and how they will grow together in a community. This garden is looked after beautifully by the professional gardener, Ian Gallagher, and we review the planting a couple of times a year - such a joy to do! We are also developing a woodland area that was once Sitka spruce - now removed - in conjunction with

26/05/2026

Garden revisit and planting review | this bank was nothing but mown grass when we first saw it back in 2018 as part of a large multi-area planting design. Following planting in 2023, it now hosts textured layers of planting that are creating its own community beautifully cared for by the gardener, Ian Gallagher.

What was lovely to see was plants endemic in the garden moving in and contributing to the ground layer planting. Plants such as Lysimachia nemorum and Prunella vulgaris joining Ajuga reptans weaving between Geranium, Brunnera, Eurybia divaricata, Carex remota among many other plants.

We lost two mature birch trees that offered dappled light in storms, resulting in a change in conditions. Given the moisture levels in the soil and that these plants are now well established, the plants appear to be coping well.

Birch saplings are now seen popping up through the planting, and where in good positions, will be nurtured and last autumn, we added back some height with the addition of bigger multistep birch and Euonymus europeaus.

Immersive city garden | drawing upon the surrounding architecture, we created a strong layout softened by rich layers of...
20/05/2026

Immersive city garden | drawing upon the surrounding architecture, we created a strong layout softened by rich layers of planting - building a community of plants - that together offered a sense of place and somewhere you just don’t want to leave.

This north-facing, shady narrow garden was also transformed from the relatively bare and open space that it once was .

Photography:

Return visits to gardens we have designed and planted is something we do because we care about how the gardens get going...
11/05/2026

Return visits to gardens we have designed and planted is something we do because we care about how the gardens get going in the first 6 months to a year and then how they develop over time.

Our first return visit is part of our professional design service. Thereafter, it is part of our aftercare package where we support out clients to get the best out of their garden and how to edit it as a dynamic landscape without losing the vision of the garden. What we don't do is prescribe undue time trying to keep the garden in a status quo.

Design team: Rachel Bailey Studio; Liam Brookes; Marissa Carrara
Contractors:
Metal fabricators:
Plants:
Stone and gravel: CED Stone Group

2024| This garden was buzzing with life even after a short time after planting. This was a couple of years ago and we’re...
04/05/2026

2024| This garden was buzzing with life even after a short time after planting. This was a couple of years ago and we’re looking forward to revisiting soon.

At our studio, we believe in designing gardens that function as living systems, nurturing both you and the natural world...
23/04/2026

At our studio, we believe in designing gardens that function as living systems, nurturing both you and the natural world. No matter how big or small your outdoor space, if this sounds like your sort of garden and you want to create a garden that is alive, please get in touch.

Architect-designed houses AND gardens | belatedly catching up on the RIBA house of the year 2025 shortlist on TV, I noti...
20/01/2026

Architect-designed houses AND gardens | belatedly catching up on the RIBA house of the year 2025 shortlist on TV, I noticed this year the number of houses that have beautifully designed and cared-for gardens up close to the house.

In my opinion, if these gardens were stripped away from the buildings, whilst the houses would be beautiful in their own right, it is the Gardens that make them Special.

So two take aways from this:
1. That buildings and gardens are more than the sum of their parts.

Done well, a designed garden offers a sense of place and connects the garden with the wider landscape (where there is one) or in an urban environment can create a unique sense of place through the selection of plants (of course ensuring that the selection is appropriate to the conditions of the site and therefore creates a community.

2. Architects and people building their own homes, please do not forget the garden - it has a huge role in making your design/ your new home as well as offering connection to nature, a beautiful outside space to spend time in, habitats for wildlife and can help with the changing climate (not to mention locking up carbon in the soil and in plants* So leave a good portion of investment in your new home to the Garden!

* More on this later ….

• New design • off the drawing board for a small sub-urban garden that will turn an a mostly blank canvas into a plant-f...
19/01/2026

• New design • off the drawing board for a small sub-urban garden that will turn an a mostly blank canvas into a plant-filled immersive space for our clients to connect with nature and create memories with their family as well as creating a variety of habitats for wildlife (and plants) all whilst working with the materials onsite.

Design team: l_a_brookes & Rachel Bailey

The garden was covered in plastic grass (underlay only remaining) and has a dominating summerhouse and a patio and path already laid.

After our initial meeting with our wonderful clients, they have already re-homed the plastic carpet & after our suggestion painted the summerhouse and fence black.

We are going to work with the existing patio and path - just a small tweak to allow for even more planting. The garden is partly shaded by surrounding mature trees and we will be working with the existing ‘soil’, which is pure sand - the site before a housing development was a sand quarry.

Watch this space ….


Address

Ardenbrae, Glenoran Road
Helensburgh
G848JU

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+447870208977

Website

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