The South West London Gardener
Consultation | Design | Build | Horticulture
The planning question almost always comes up too late. You’ve sat through three contractor visits, settled on a design, agreed a number, and then a friend mentions a neighbour who had to pull out a brand new deck because somebody from the council came knocking. Suddenly everyone’s anxious. Here’s the thing. Most garden makeovers in …
Do You Need Planning Permission for a Garden Makeover in London? Read More »
Building work has a habit of leaving gardens looking sorry for themselves. The extension’s finally done, the kitchen’s gleaming, and then you wander outside and your face falls. What used to be a tidy lawn is now a churned-up mess, the borders look like they’ve been used as a skip, and there’s that suspicious greasy …
Most London gardens are small. Not cottage small, not courtyard small necessarily, just the kind of space that makes you realise why estate agents start using the word “manageable” in their listings. A narrow strip behind a Victorian terrace in Wandsworth. A side return tacked onto a Putney flat. A squeezed rectangle between two semis …
Hard Landscaping for Small London Gardens: Making Every Metre Count Read More »
Every garden has its quirks. A slope that makes half the space unusable. A corner that stays boggy through winter no matter what you plant there. A terrace that bakes in summer and turns into a skating rink the moment frost arrives. Most people assume these are just features of the plot they have to …
Solving Common Garden Problems with Smart Hard Landscaping Read More »
Your garden doesn’t need a complete overhaul to feel completely transformed. In our years working across Southwest London, we’ve discovered that the most effective changes often come from working with what you already have rather than starting from scratch. These seven straightforward approaches deliver maximum visual impact without requiring a construction crew or draining your …
7 Simple Garden Makeover Ideas That Make a Big Impact Read More »
Here at The Southwest London Gardener, we love nothing more than using old materials to create exciting new structures and hard landscaping elements. Not only is this great for the environment, but it also creates an effect that most new materials can’t replicate. We recently came across an exciting project that exemplified our sustainable gardening …
Old Bricks, New Life: Giving a Greenhouse Its Perfect Base Read More »
When it comes to freshening up your outside space, a garden revamp is a great way of achieving this. A revamp often comes at a lower cost than a full garden transformation, and if you are on a budget, there are ways you can keep the cost down throughout your project. Here at The Southwest …
If you’re lucky enough to have plenty of outside space on your London home, then you know how much joy a well-maintained garden can bring. A great way to make sure you are truly enjoying your garden to the max is to add garden furniture. This can have many uses, from providing a bit of …
Over the last few years, there’s been a new trend in gardening. Fuelled by the order to stay at home, and the huge increase in remote working, more and more people have decided to invest in a garden room. Sometimes known as a ‘shoffice’ (shed office) these rooms can be used for working, and provide …
A Guide to Garden Rooms and How to Get One in Your Garden Read More »
When people think of gardening, they may think of leisurely days in the garden, slowly planting small flowers into soft soil. But this isn’t what all gardening looks like. Gardening comes in many forms, and one of the main ones is landscaping. Landscape gardening combines many elements of horticulture, construction, and more, to form a …
What is Landscape Gardening? A Guide to the Different Types and Newest Trends Read More »
There are plenty of beautiful streets in London. Wander down many of the historic and scenic roads and your eyes will be quickly diverted to the front gardens that surround you. Since the Victorian era, people have wanted to make their home as beautiful to a passer-by as can be, and this has involved decorative …
How to Design and Build the Perfect London Front Garden Read More »
Railway sleepers are becoming increasingly popular throughout the world of garden design. And there are plenty of good reasons for this! Firstly, they make a great feature to any garden, and whether left in their rustic, often oil-speckled state, or painted to add a dash of colour to a garden, they are a handy way …
Five Top Garden Sleeper Ideas for Your London garden Read More »
Everyone loves spending time in their garden. When the sun is out and the sky is blue, there’s no better place to relax with an ice-cold drink and a book. One thing that people can struggle for though, is privacy. If you live in a built-up area, such as Twickenham and Wandsworth, you may have …
7 Top Tips on How to get privacy in an overlooked garden Read More »