Awkward garden types and how thoughtful design solves them

The reality for many homeowners in Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames, Esher, Twickenham, Richmond and the surrounding area is a plot that presents a genuine challenge: a narrow strip running away from the house, a steep fall to the back boundary, a walled courtyard with limited sky, or a rear garden accessible only through the kitchen. These are not unusual problems. They are the normal conditions of suburban and urban gardening across the KT and TW postcodes, and they are exactly the kind of sites that Flourish has been designing and building for many years.

The Victorian and Edwardian terraces of Surbiton and Kingston frequently come with long thin plots, restricted side access and heavy clay subsoils. The detached and semi-detached houses of Esher, Cobham and Thames Ditton often sit on sloping ground, with level changes that need structural attention before a garden can function properly. The urban properties of Richmond and Twickenham include courtyard spaces and side returns that most homeowners leave under-used because they have never been treated as genuine design opportunities.

This page brings together the most common awkward garden layouts we work with across our service area. It is intended to help you identify your own situation and find the right detailed guide for your specific challenge.

What makes a garden awkward to design and build

A garden becomes genuinely awkward when its shape, levels, orientation or access constraints force compromises that a well-proportioned open plot would not require. The challenge is not just visual. It is practical, structural and sometimes logistical.

A long thin garden, very common in the Victorian terraces of Surbiton, Kingston and Twickenham, is often frustrating because it resists zoning. Everything runs in one direction, the fences dominate, and the space feels more like a corridor than a garden. A sloping garden, more typical of the larger plots in Esher, Cobham and the Thames Ditton area, is difficult because level usable space has to be created, often involving excavation, retaining structures and drainage engineering on Surrey clay. A courtyard with high walls on several sides presents a light challenge that most open gardens in Richmond or East Molesey simply do not have.

What makes awkward gardens rewarding to design is that the constraints force clarity. When you cannot simply lay out a standard arrangement, you have to think carefully about what the space is actually for, how it will be used through the seasons, and which design decisions will make the most difference. That kind of thinking tends to produce gardens that are more considered, more personal and more enjoyable than a plot that simply did what was expected of it.

The most common garden types we work with

Below is a brief introduction to each layout type we design and build for most regularly across Surbiton, Kingston, Esher, Cobham, Thames Ditton, East Molesey, Twickenham and Richmond.

Long thin and narrow gardens

The most common awkward layout in the Victorian and Edwardian streets of Surbiton, Kingston and Twickenham. The challenge is breaking up a single long sightline, creating genuine zones and making the space feel like somewhere to spend time rather than somewhere to walk through. Narrow plots add a width constraint on top, limiting furniture placement and requiring careful thought about planting depth on both sides.

• Long thin and narrow gardens

Gardens with no side access

When there is no gate or side passage, every material, every piece of equipment and every barrow of spoil has to come through the house. Common in terraced properties throughout the KT and TW postcodes, this affects programme, cost and design choices significantly. Understanding it from the start leads to a much smoother project.

• Read our guide to landscaping gardens with no side access

Stepped and split-level gardens

Gardens with two or more distinct levels, whether imposed by a sloping site or introduced as a design device. More frequent on the larger plots of Esher, Cobham and Thames Ditton, though also common wherever a property sits at a different level to its rear boundary. The challenge is making the levels feel connected, and ensuring movement between them is safe and visually resolved.

• Explore our split-level and terraced garden design guide

Sloping gardens

A continuous fall across the plot, rather than obvious steps or terraces. Sloping gardens on Surrey clay require particular attention to drainage and retaining. The right response depends on the gradient, the brief and, importantly, the budget for intervention.

• Read our guide to designing sloping gardens

Wrap-around gardens

Plots that extend around two or three sides of the house, with separate side and rear areas that can feel disconnected. The design challenge is creating a coherent experience across different light conditions, widths and functions, using consistent materials and planting to unify spaces that were never planned together.

• See how we design cohesive wrap-around gardens

Side return gardens

The narrow strip running along the side of the house, a common feature in terraced and semi-detached properties across Surbiton, Kingston and Richmond. Often used only as a bin route or left as dead ground, a well-resolved side return can meaningfully extend the usable garden.

• Read our side return garden design ideas and guide

Courtyard gardens

Enclosed spaces, often in the urban properties of Richmond, Twickenham and Kingston town centre, where high walls, limited sky and restricted light define the design challenge. Courtyard gardens require a different approach to material quality, drainage, planting selection and atmospheric lighting. When they are done well, they are among the most rewarding outdoor spaces to spend time in.

• Explore our courtyard garden design guide

Which garden type sounds most like yours?

Use the descriptions above to find the closest match to your own situation, then follow the link to the detailed guide. If your garden combines more than one challenge, the guides will help you understand which issues take priority.

Frequently asked questions

What is the hardest garden shape to design?

There is no single answer, because the difficulty depends on the constraints attached to the shape as much as on the shape itself. In our experience across the KT and TW postcodes, gardens that combine a difficult layout with restricted access and heavy clay drainage challenges require the most careful planning. A long thin Surbiton garden with no side access and a compacted clay subsoil is more demanding than a steep slope on free-draining ground in Cobham. The more constrained the site, the more a thoughtful design tends to transform it.

Can awkward gardens still be beautiful and practical?

Yes, and often more so than gardens that offered fewer challenges. Constraints force considered decisions. When you cannot simply lay out a standard scheme, every choice has to earn its place, and the result is usually a garden that feels genuinely resolved rather than assembled.

Is it worth redesigning a difficult garden layout?

In almost every case, yes. The gardens that homeowners in Kingston, Esher and Richmond describe as impossible to use are almost always ones where the design has not addressed the actual layout challenge. A scheme that works with the site rather than ignoring it can transform how a garden feels and functions, and the investment in proper design tends to protect the investment in construction that follows.

Which garden problems need structural work?

Level changes almost always require some form of retaining structure. Drainage on clay soils, which are widespread across the KT postcode area, typically requires engineered channels or soakaways. Any project involving significant excavation needs attention to ground stability and, on sites near the Thames in Richmond, East Molesey or Twickenham, sometimes to flood risk as well.

Do awkward gardens cost more to landscape?

They can, but not automatically. The cost depends on the degree of intervention required. A long thin garden in a Surbiton terrace that needs zoning through planting and paving may cost no more than a standard garden of the same size. A steeply sloping garden in Esher requiring extensive terracing and drainage engineering will cost more. Understanding the site properly at the outset is what allows us to give a realistic cost picture before any commitment is made.