Garden Design & Landscaping in Kew

The classic Kew garden sits behind a Victorian or Edwardian terrace or semi: a rectangle of modest width, brick walls or fences to the sides, and a house that has often been extended at the back. There are also handsome larger houses near Kew Green and the Gardens themselves, and pockets of interwar and later housing with squarer plots.

Soil here is generally river-terrace gravel over London clay — freer draining than much of West London in some spots, sticky and slow in others, and frequently full of builders' rubble in the top spit where extensions have been added. It is worth digging a hole before making promises about planting.

Kew's mature street trees and the canopy of the Botanic Gardens mean shade and root competition are common, and much of the area is within a conservation area, with tree preservation orders on significant specimens. Front gardens along the main roads take traffic dust and pressure for off-street parking, which is where the surface water rules become relevant.

Where a garden is close to Kew Gardens, planting deserves to lead the design. That does not mean a botanical collection: it means a strong evergreen framework, generous, properly prepared beds rather than mean 300mm borders, and a layered scheme with something to look at in every month — ferns and hellebores in the shade, grasses for movement, one or two well-chosen multi-stem trees for height and structure.

The paving then plays a supporting role. A pale, matt stone lifts light in a shaded plot; a single material, laid well, makes a small garden feel larger than three materials competing for attention. Terraces are set with a fall away from the house and, where a rear extension opens onto the garden, a slot drain across the threshold allows a near-flush finish.

Family gardens in Kew often need to do several things at once — dining, lawn, storage, somewhere for bins and bikes — and the answer is usually to give each one a proper place at the design stage rather than let them accumulate. Bespoke joinery stores, a pergola for shade and low-level lighting along the route down the garden do more for the space than extra paving.

For front gardens, permeable surfaces, gravel gullies and planted beds satisfy the rules on surface water run-off and look far better on a Kew street than a solid slab of hard standing.

Our groundworks team starts by clearing and excavating, digging out builders' rubble where the ground has been spoiled, and resolving drainage and levels — Aco or slot drains, soakaways or shingle gullies, and rainwater directed to storage for irrigation where that is practical.

Then the hard landscaping: paving, pathways and tiling, brickwork and pointing, raised beds, steps and retaining walls, followed by fencing, gates, screens, pergolas, bin and bike stores and any bespoke joinery or metalwork. Excavation near protected trees is planned to protect root systems.

Soft landscaping finishes the job — imported topsoil and soil improvement where needed, trees and hedging, borders planted properly rather than dotted, turf or artificial grass, irrigation commissioned and lighting cabled in while the beds are still open. You get a written quote before work begins.

Twenty-plus years of London garden design and construction, from a base a few minutes away in West London.

A single in-house team for design, construction and planting, so the garden is delivered in the right order and one company is accountable for it.

Real planting knowledge alongside the building: soil preparation, tree planting, irrigation and aftercare advice, all backed by a written quote and a personal service.