Garden advice
Expert garden advice from Flourish Landscaping
Every garden is shaped by light, water, wind and soil. The factors most people underestimate are orientation and soil. The direction your garden faces determines how sunlight moves through the space. The soil beneath determines what will thrive once you have selected the right plants.
This guide brings together the expert knowledge that informs every Flourish Landscaping project across Kingston, Surbiton, Richmond, Esher, Cobham and surrounding areas of Surrey. The pages here cover the fundamental factors that determine garden success: orientation, soil composition, compost specification, shade type, garden style, and design approach. Each topic has a dedicated guide with detailed practical advice based on three decades of experience working on Surrey gardens.
Garden styles
Choosing a garden style is not about following a trend. It is about understanding how you want to use your outdoor space, what will thrive in your conditions, and which aesthetic will still feel right in ten years. Our garden styles section covers the six approaches Flourish designs and builds most frequently across South West London and Surrey, from contemporary geometric schemes through to naturalistic prairie planting and lush tropical exotics.
Garden orientation
The direction your garden faces is the single most important factor determining how sunlight moves through the space, how soil moisture behaves through the seasons, and which plants will thrive. Our orientation section covers north, south, east and west-facing gardens, plus the wind exposure and microclimate factors that affect comfort and planting decisions. Combined with our sun path planner above, these guides help you understand your garden’s specific light conditions before any design decisions are made.
Soil and compost
Soil is the foundation of every successful garden, and yet it is the element most often misunderstood and mis-specified. Compost, topsoil, soil conditioner, multi-purpose, peat-free, John Innes, ericaceous – the terminology suggests these materials are interchangeable. They are not. Each represents a distinct formulation designed for specific applications, and using the wrong type produces predictable failures.
Our soil and compost section covers the practical knowledge that determines whether plants thrive or fail across Surrey gardens. From compost type selection through to BS3882 topsoil specifications and clay soil improvement techniques, these guides cover the material specification knowledge that informs every Flourish project.
Shade plants
Shade is not a single condition. Partial shade beneath deciduous trees differs fundamentally from deep shade against a north-facing wall, and the species that thrive in one fail routinely in the other. Most disappointing shade plantings across Surrey are not failures of plant choice but failures of shade assessment at the planning stage.
Our shade plants section covers the four distinct shade types every gardener should recognise – partial, full, dry and wet – with detailed species selection for each on Surrey clay. Whether you are planting beneath mature trees, working with a north-facing border, or designing for a damp shaded corner, the guides here identify the species that genuinely thrive in each condition.
Awkward garden types
Some gardens present specific design challenges that go beyond standard considerations. Long thin gardens, courtyards, sloping plots, narrow side returns, and waterlogged sites all require approaches that account for their particular constraints. Our awkward garden types section covers the design principles that work for each, with detailed guides for the most common challenging garden configurations across Surrey.
Garden law and boundaries
Garden law covers the legal aspects of gardens that most homeowners encounter only when problems arise: boundary disputes with neighbours, responsibility for fences and hedges, tree preservation orders, planning permission for garden buildings, and the practical implications of high hedges legislation. Understanding the basics before issues develop saves considerable cost, stress, and conflict.
Garden design decisions
Beyond the technical factors of orientation, soil, and shade, garden design involves practical decisions about materials, layout, scale, and budget. Our wider design resources cover these decisions in detail, including the planning process, design considerations, realistic costs, and current trends informing garden design across the UK.
Seasonal advice and blog
Garden work follows seasonal rhythms, and the right time to plant, prune, mulch, or protect determines success more than any individual technique. Our seasonal blog covers month-by-month garden tasks, plant care for specific species through the year, and the seasonal preparations that make the difference between thriving gardens and struggling ones across Surrey.
Glossary and FAQs
Horticulture has its own vocabulary, and the terminology used in garden design, planting, and landscaping is sometimes unclear to homeowners commissioning their first garden project. Our glossary defines the terms used across these guides in plain language, and our FAQs answer the questions clients ask most frequently before starting work with us.
Planning a garden project?
If you are planning a garden redesign, planting refresh, or specific landscaping work across Kingston, Surbiton, Esher, Cobham, Thames Ditton, Twickenham, Richmond or surrounding areas of Surrey, our design and build team brings three decades of experience to projects of every scale. Craig Davis BSc (Hons) Horticulture leads the design process, with Eli Jacobacci developing detailed planting plans and our specialist construction team delivering each project to a standard that matches the design intent.
