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Landscaping in Richmond

Riverside gardens,
built for the water table.

Richmond is the greenest borough in London and the one most shaped by the Thames. Protected trees and the flood plain are not obstacles here — they are the design brief.

Building in Richmond

What we work with here

01

Georgian riverside, Victorian terraces and Kew

Richmond, Kew and Barnes hold Georgian and Victorian houses close to the river, many in conservation areas, with walled gardens and mature planting. Twickenham, Teddington and East Sheen bring Edwardian and inter-war housing on larger, more regular plots with side access. The common thread across the borough is trees: Richmond has more tree cover than anywhere else in London, and a very high proportion of gardens contain or adjoin a mature specimen. That single fact governs excavation, foundations and layout more often than anything the client initially has in mind.

02

Thames gravel, a high water table and the flood plain

Much of the borough sits on Thames river terrace gravel — free draining and dimensionally stable, which is excellent ground for paving and makes soakaways efficient. The complication is the river. Substantial areas along the Thames lie within the flood plain, and the water table close to the river is high, which affects how deep a soakaway can usefully go and how excavations behave in winter. The right answer is permeable construction as the default, attenuation sized for the actual area, and runoff retained within the boundary rather than shed to the road.

03

Protected trees and conservation areas, in quantity

Richmond has extensive conservation area coverage and a very large number of Tree Preservation Orders. In a conservation area every tree above a modest size is protected by default, and six weeks' written notice is required before most work — including root pruning during groundworks, which is the requirement people most often miss. The practical method is to establish tree and designation status at survey, keep foundations outside root protection areas, and use no-dig permeable construction wherever a surface must sit within the influence of a protected root plate.

Our services in Richmond

What we build in Richmond

Garden Design

Bespoke garden planning, planting schemes, and 3D visuals.

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Porcelain Paving

Modern, stain-resistant paving solutions for contemporary gardens.

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Natural Stone Driveways

Elegant Yorkstone, Limestone, and Sandstone installations.

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Decking & Seating

Custom composite or hardwood decking with built-in features.

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Retaining Walls & Fencing

Structural walls and privacy fencing for defined garden spaces.

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Jet Washing & Rejuvenation

Restore old patios and driveways to look brand new.

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Questions we get asked

Richmond, specifically

Do I need permission to work near a protected tree in Richmond?
Usually yes. Trees in conservation areas are protected automatically and need six weeks' notice to the council before most work, and Tree Preservation Orders are common across the borough. Crucially this covers cutting roots during excavation, not just pruning branches. We check the status of every significant tree at survey and design the layout and foundations to stay outside the root protection area wherever possible.
What paving works in a flood plain garden?
Permeable construction, laid over a porous sub-base that lets water through rather than shedding it. Gravel, permeable block paving and porous resin systems all work, and on Richmond's river gravel they drain genuinely well. Sealed surfaces that push water to the boundary or the highway are the wrong answer here both technically and, for front gardens over five square metres, in planning terms.
Can I still have a terrace if my garden is full of mature trees?
Yes, if it is built the right way. Digging a conventional sub-base through a root plate damages the tree and, on a protected specimen, needs consent you may not get. The alternative is a no-dig construction: a cellular or granular build-up laid over the existing ground with a permeable surface, which spreads load without excavation and lets water and air reach the roots. It is a well-established approach and it is what makes these gardens buildable.
Coverage

Areas we cover in Richmond

  • Richmond
  • Kew
  • Barnes
  • Twickenham
  • Teddington
  • East Sheen

Postcode districts: TW1 · TW2 · TW9 · TW10 · TW11 · SW13 · SW14

All 32 London boroughs

Get a free quote in Richmond.

Tell us about the site and we will arrange a survey. Written, no-obligation quotes for anywhere in Richmond.

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