Project — Kingston upon Thames
An Ibiza-inspired garden made for entertaining
A contemporary, Ibiza-inspired entertaining garden in Kingston upon Thames, designed and built in-house by Flourish Landscaping. We turned a tired, fragmented terrace into a single, sociable outdoor room — bespoke porcelain seating, a hand-built pergola, a Mediterranean-influenced planting scheme and layered evening lighting — built for relaxed hosting from spring through to autumn.
The transformation
Before and after
Drag the handle, or use the arrow keys, to compare. A photograph of the original terrace will be added here once supplied; the right-hand side shows the finished garden.
The brief
What the garden needed to do
This Kingston upon Thames terrace had good bones but no real sense of purpose. The paving was a patchwork of materials that had settled unevenly, the borders were sparse, and there was little privacy from overlooking neighbouring windows — a familiar challenge in the borough’s close-set town gardens. The plot felt narrow and fragmented, with no single area big enough to host more than two or three people comfortably, and the lack of any lighting meant it sat unused once the sun went down.
The owners wanted a garden designed specifically for social use: outdoor dining for eight, relaxed lounge seating and a genuine sense of enclosure without resorting to solid walls. Lighting mattered, as most entertaining would happen after work or at weekends. Just as importantly, it had to stay low-maintenance, so the garden became a pleasure rather than another chore.
Scope of works
What we built
- Bespoke built-in seating — benches finished in high-quality Italian porcelain with a smooth contemporary render: durable, low-maintenance and a natural anchor for the entertaining area.
- Hand-built timber pergola — adds shade, height and architectural interest, doubling as a focal point and a sheltered spot to lounge.
- Large-format porcelain terrace — pale paving on a reinforced base with adjustable pedestal supports for a perfectly level finish, concealing electrical conduits beneath.
- Mediterranean-influenced planting scheme — chosen for texture, structure and a long season of low-input interest.
- Automatic irrigation — a discreet system that keeps the planting healthy with minimal effort.
- Composite slatted fencing & side gate — privacy and security with a sleek, modern look; trellis panels for climbers.
- Layered evening lighting — LED uplights and path lighting run through underground ducting to extend usable hours into the evening.
- Ibiza-inspired relaxation zone — comfortable lounge seating and an open, easy layout that invites guests to settle in.
Planting
Planting schedule
A warm, Mediterranean-influenced palette for a sheltered, sunny town garden — drought-tolerant structure, aromatic shrubs and grasses for movement, with scent and colour layered through the season.
Indicative palette, formatted as a worked example. To be confirmed against the garden’s actual planted schedule before publication.
Structure & trees
Height, evergreen form and a Mediterranean silhouette.
- Olea europaeaEvergreen
- Trachycarpus fortuneiEvergreen
- Arbutus unedoAutumn
- Laurus nobilisEvergreen · scent
Hedging & screening
Boundaries and an evergreen backbone for privacy.
- Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Silver Queen’Evergreen
- Elaeagnus × submacrophyllaEvergreen
- Phillyrea angustifoliaEvergreen
Shrubs
Aromatic, sun-loving mass and seasonal interest.
- Cistus × purpureusEarly summer
- Phlomis fruticosaSummer
- Salvia rosmarinusSpring · scent
- Teucrium fruticansSummer
Perennials & grasses
The long season of flower, scent and movement.
- Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’Summer · scent
- Salvia yangii ‘Blue Spire’Late summer
- Salvia × jamensis ‘Nachtvlinder’Summer–autumn
- Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfeniiSpring
- Verbena bonariensisSummer–autumn
- Stipa tenuissimaSummer movement
- Stipa giganteaSummer
Ferns for shade
The quieter, shadier side of the plot.
- Dryopteris filix-masSpring–autumn
- Polystichum setiferumEvergreen
- Asplenium scolopendriumEvergreen
Climbers & bulbs
Walls, scent and early colour.
- Trachelospermum jasminoidesSummer · scent
- Jasminum officinaleSummer · scent
- Allium hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’Late spring
- Tulipa ‘Ballerina’Spring
Gallery
The finished garden
In the clients’ words
An approved client quote can be placed here.— Client, Kingston upon Thames · 5.0 from 51 Google reviews
Your garden next
Thinking about a garden like this?
We design, build and plant gardens for entertaining across Kingston, Surbiton, Richmond and the surrounding Surrey boroughs. Tell us how you’d like to use your space and we’ll take care of the rest.
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