Planting design and installation

Creating beautiful, resilient planting schemes with year-round colour, texture, and interest, perfectly suited to your garden’s unique conditions.

Built on multi-generational horticultural expertise, our planting design service ensures each garden is tailored to its unique environment, soil and aspect, and to your vision for the space.

Flourish Landscaping specialises in thoughtfully designed planting schemes that bring structure, colour and biodiversity to your outdoor space. Led by Craig Davis BSc (Hons) Horticulture, we combine plantsmanship with design, so borders, hedging and trees work together as a coherent scheme rather than a collection of plants.

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Our approach to planting design

Every planting project we undertake is carefully planned to suit your garden’s conditions, aspect and aesthetic preferences. Plant selection is led by site analysis, not catalogue browsing.

Our key planting services

Custom planting plans – We create bespoke designs tailored to soil type, sunlight and maintenance preferences, working from your garden orientation and microclimate.
Year-round seasonal interest – A blend of flowers, shrubs and trees that keep your garden vibrant across spring, summer, autumn and winter, with attention to bark, berries and seed heads as well as flowering.
Low-maintenance planting schemes – Considered plant selection for those wanting beautiful but easy-to-care-for gardens, often combined with our low-maintenance garden service.
Wildlife-friendly planting – Native and pollinator-supporting plants that attract bees, butterflies and birds, encouraging a thriving garden ecosystem.
Considered planting near seating areas – Plant selection that reduces bee and wasp activity around outdoor dining, hot tubs or play areas, or for clients with insect allergies, while keeping the wider garden wildlife-friendly.
Privacy hedging & screening – Natural boundaries for added seclusion and visual appeal, integrated with our fencing and screening service where appropriate.
Tree & shrub placement – Strategic selection and planting for longevity, scale and impact, with mature specimens sourced where the design demands instant structure.
Border renovation – Sympathetic editing and replanting of tired or overgrown borders, often working around existing specimens worth keeping.

Plant categories we work with

A good planting scheme balances structure, seasonal interest and biodiversity. Below is an indicative selection of the categories and species we draw on, all proven performers in Surrey and South West London gardens.

Structural evergreen shrubs

The backbone of any garden, providing year-round form and presence. Taxus baccata (yew) and Buxus sempervirens (box) for hedges and topiary, Pittosporum tenuifolium for elegant lighter foliage, and Choisya ternata for fragrant, dependable evergreen mass.

Hardy perennials

The seasonal energy of the garden. Geranium ‘Rozanne’ for long-flowering ground cover, Salvia nemorosa and Nepeta × faassenii for pollinator-friendly purples and blues, Verbena bonariensis for height and movement, and Echinacea purpurea and Achillea millefolium for late-summer presence.

Ornamental grasses

Texture, movement and a long season of interest. Stipa gigantea for airy height, Calamagrostis × acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ for vertical structure, Pennisetum alopecuroides for soft fountain forms, and Miscanthus sinensis for autumn and winter presence.

Small and medium garden trees

Trees give a garden architecture. For medium plots we often specify Amelanchier lamarckii (four-season interest), Cornus kousa (flowering dogwood), Magnolia stellata (spring blossom) and Sorbus aucuparia (rowan, valuable for wildlife).

Hedging

For formal boundaries and internal divisions. Carpinus betulus (hornbeam) and Fagus sylvatica (beech) for deciduous structure that holds copper leaves through winter, Taxus baccata for the most refined formal hedge, and native mixed hedging including Crataegus monogyna and Cornus sanguinea for wildlife value.

Climbers

Vertical interest on walls, pergolas and trellis. Wisteria sinensis for spring drama, Clematis spp. for layered seasonal flowering, Rosa spp. for fragrance and tradition, and Trachelospermum jasminoides for evergreen scented coverage of walls and fences.

Planting for Surrey clay soils

Most gardens across Kingston, Surbiton, Richmond and the wider Surrey area sit on heavy London clay. It holds nutrients well, but bakes hard in summer, holds water through winter and can cause problems for plants better suited to free-draining conditions.

Our planting plans are built around this reality. Soil is assessed and improved with appropriate organic matter at planting, drainage is addressed where waterlogging is a real issue (see our flooded gardens service), and species selection favours plants that are genuinely happy on clay rather than fashionable choices that will struggle. Mulching, planting depth and aftercare guidance are all part of the service.

For very wet, dry or wind-exposed sites we draw on focused guidance for difficult conditions. See our windy gardens advice and garden orientation guide for more on planning around your site.

Why choose Flourish Landscaping?

Every garden is unique, which is why our planting schemes are always personalised to reflect your style and how you live in the space. We use environmentally responsible practices, selecting plants that support biodiversity and need minimal intervention, and our degree-qualified horticultural expertise ensures each plant is chosen to thrive in your specific garden conditions. See our project portfolio for examples of finished schemes.

Common questions about planting design

How long does a new planting scheme take to mature?

A well-planned scheme will look established within two full growing seasons, and reach its first real maturity at around three to five years. We plant at sensible spacings so the garden has presence from year one, while leaving room for plants to grow into their proper form rather than being crowded.

Can I have a low-maintenance garden that still looks beautiful?

Yes. Low-maintenance does not have to mean gravel and architectural shrubs. The trick is choosing plants that genuinely thrive in your conditions and combining them in a way that limits weeding, deadheading and replacement. See our low-maintenance gardens service for more on this approach.

When is the best time of year to plant?

For most shrubs, trees and hedging, autumn through to early spring is ideal, while the ground is workable and plants are dormant. Container-grown perennials can be planted across a wider window from spring through to autumn, with summer planting possible if irrigation is provided. We plan around the right window for each part of the scheme.

Do you provide ongoing care after installation?

Yes. New planting needs proper aftercare in its first two years to establish well, particularly on clay soils. We offer ongoing care through our garden maintenance service, ranging from establishment visits in the first year to full annual maintenance contracts.

Will you choose plants for my specific soil and aspect?

Every scheme starts with a site assessment: soil type, drainage, aspect, exposure and microclimate. Plant selection follows that analysis. We do not work from a generic plant palette and never specify plants we know will struggle on a given site.

Can you work with the planting I already have?

Often, yes. Mature shrubs, trees and well-established perennials are worth keeping where they earn their place. We assess the existing planting, identify what is worth retaining, suggest sympathetic editing, and design new planting to complement what stays.

Areas we cover

We provide planting design and installation across Kingston upon Thames, Surbiton, Richmond and the wider Surrey and South West London area. Key locations include:

Let’s create your perfect garden

With thoughtful planning, your garden is designed to evolve and mature beautifully over time. From vibrant flower beds to structured perennial borders, we can help transform your garden into something that suits you and your family’s needs.

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