The second stage of restoration work on the romantic gardens at the Villa Sciarra on the Janiculum hill in Rome has been completed. Trees that did not feature in the original planting and any trees that are unsafe have been removed and all of the trees have been pruned. A semicircular garden representing the 12 months of the year has been put back in order, as have the flowerbeds and paths. An automatic irrigation system has been installed and the mature yew trees and hedges have been clipped into the shapes of animals and birds by gardeners skilled in the art of topiary. A small merry-go-round and go-kart track has been removed and new park benches have been installed.

This part of the restoration has cost 110,000. The final stage will involve the consolidation of the steep bottom part of the garden, which ends on the Via Dandolo near to the Viale Trastevere.

The villa and garden complex was originally created by the Barberini Colonna Sciarra family. The gardens were replanted at the beginning of the last century with more than 100 exotic trees and plants from America and Asia by the last private owners, the Tower Wurt family, The gardens and villa were given to the city of Rome in the 1930s when the villa became the Institute for Germanic studies and the gardens a public park.