Nashville / Luxury Home Plant Design in Belle Meade & West Nashville
Nashville's conservation overlays review a lot. Plants are not on the list
Interior and exterior plant design for homes in Belle Meade, Sylvan Park, The Nations, Whitland, Richland–West End and Hillsboro–West End.
The rule that surprises people
Metro's consolidated Neighborhood Conservation Zoning design guidelines apply "to the exteriors of buildings, new construction in-whole or in-part, demolition in-whole or in-part, and moving a building" — and explicitly state that "all plants, including trees, bushes, flowers, etc." are not reviewed. Work in Metro-owned public rights-of-way still goes to the Commission.
Where those overlays are
Richland–West End was adopted March 1996, Belmont–Hillsboro May 2005, Hillsboro–West End December 2005, Whitland in spring 2009, and Belle Meade Links Triangle in May 2003.
Our work here
Sylvan Park Garden Retreat is a private home where we did the inside and the outside and stayed on to maintain them. Our residential clusters include Sylvan Park, 12South, Forest Hills, Oak Hill, Belle Meade, The Nations and Hillsboro–West End.
The City of Belle Meade has its own rules, and one of them matters
Belle Meade is a separate municipality — incorporated in 1938, 3.07 square miles, a 2020 population of 2,901, governed by five commissioners who elect a mayor from among themselves. Its zoning runs Residence A and B, Residence C and Estate A and B, with floor area ratios of 0.17 in Residence A/B and Estate and 0.225 in Residence C, and a maximum residence building area of 20,000 square feet.
The provision that comes up in our conversations: **accessory structures are capped at eighteen feet in height.** If your plan involves a garden room, a conservatory or a greenhouse, that is the number to design against, and it is worth knowing before an architect draws something taller.
How a residential project runs
Indoors first, almost always. Entries and stair halls, then the living room, then bedrooms, home offices and the dining area, then covered patios. Most clients add the exterior once they learn we do it — containers, beds, pool and patio surrounds — and that is a second conversation rather than a larger first number.
We ask whether we will be maintaining the plants before we finish the design, because the answer changes the design. A house that travels needs a different specification from one where somebody is home. Most of our residential clients do take maintenance, and Savannah puts that down to the replacement guarantee more than anything else.
If you would rather not, you get a full care walkthrough, a complimentary two-week check-up and a written plant care guide covering each plant individually as well as general care.
West Nashville is a different housing stock and a different brief
Sylvan Park and The Nations are bungalows, cottages and infill — smaller rooms, lower ceilings, and light that is genuinely good on one side of the house and poor on the other. Belle Meade and Whitland are larger, older and better lit, with entries and stair halls that can carry a specimen at a scale most houses cannot.
Both benefit from the same discipline: measure the light where the plant will stand, choose for the room rather than for the photograph, and place nothing where a door swings.
Frequently asked questions
Does my conservation overlay control what I plant?
No. Metro's neighborhood conservation guidelines explicitly do not review plants, trees, bushes or flowers. Work in a Metro-owned right-of-way is a separate matter and does go to the Commission.
We are in the City of Belle Meade. Anything specific?
For planting, no. If your project includes a garden structure, note that accessory structures are capped at eighteen feet in height there.
Do you do the outside as well as the inside?
Yes — containers, beds, entries, pool and patio areas, with seasonal rotation on an exterior program. Exterior trash cleanup is not included.
Do I have to take maintenance?
No. Without it you get the care walkthrough, a complimentary two-week check-up and an individualised plant care guide.
What does it cost to start?
Consultation is $250 in person or $125 virtual; project minimum $3,000; four to six weeks from consultation to install on a small or medium project.
Start your project
Tell us about the space and we'll set up a time to come see it.
Interior and exterior plant design for Belle Meade, Sylvan Park, The Nations and West Nashville homes — designed room by room, maintained if you want it.