Garden Design & Landscaping in Putney

Housing runs from Victorian and Edwardian terraces in the streets off the Lower Richmond Road and around Putney Bridge, to substantial semis and detached houses on and around Putney Hill and West Hill, plus a considerable number of mansion blocks and riverside apartment developments.

Near the river the ground is low, flat and often slow-draining, with a high water table — so lawns sit wet, paving grows moss, and fence posts rot at the base if they are not detailed properly. On the hill the ground rises noticeably, and gardens frequently step up or down away from the house, which puts retaining walls, steps and surface water control at the centre of any design.

Putney Heath and the Common bring mature oaks and other large trees into the picture, often protected, along with dry shade and root competition. Conservation areas cover parts of SW15, so front boundaries, walls and hard surfaces can be sensitive, and the surface water rules apply to front garden paving as they do everywhere.

On the sloping gardens the design decision is where the level ground goes and how the levels are held. Cutting a garden into two or three terraces with retaining walls, and connecting them with generous shallow steps, produces far more usable space than trying to live on a slope — and lets planting sit at eye level as you come out of the house.

Near the river the priority is a garden that works in winter. That means drainage designed properly, a terrace with correct falls, paths that stay clean, and planting chosen for damp ground rather than fought against. Where a lawn is wanted on wet ground, it needs land drainage and a built-up profile to survive.

Family gardens are a common brief in Putney, and the honest version has a defined lawn or artificial grass area for wear, a terrace big enough to eat on, built-in storage for bikes and bins, and boundary planting deep enough to actually screen. Lighting along the route and into a tree makes the garden usable in the evenings.

Where a garden borders the Heath or has mature trees over the boundary, soil improvement, mulching and irrigation matter more than any plant list, because dry shade under established trees is what defeats most planting schemes.

We start with the ground: excavation, muck away, land drainage or soakaways where the ground will take them, positive drainage where it will not, and levels set out before any surface goes down.

Then our teams build the structure of the garden — retaining walls, steps, brickwork and pointing, paving, pathways and tiling — followed by fencing with properly detailed posts, gates, pergolas, screens, stores and bespoke joinery, and metalwork such as railings for level changes.

Planting, turf or artificial grass, irrigation and lighting finish the job, with services installed while the ground is open. There is a written quote for all works before we begin and regular communication while we are on site.

Over twenty years of designing and building gardens in London, including sloping sites with retaining structures and wet, low-lying plots.

One company in-house for design, groundworks, drainage, hard landscaping, joinery, metalwork, lighting, irrigation and planting.

Written quotes, prompt starts, careful site management and the quality of workmanship and personal service that keep clients coming back.