Woodland-edge garden – Claygate

An established garden on clay, under mature trees, reworked with curved corten beds, a gravel path and woodland-edge planting.

Scope and constraints

A large rear garden in Claygate with a central lawn of about 113 m², a garden room at one end, a patio by the house and mature trees along the boundaries, including a large Eucalyptus. The edges were old brick raised beds. The front garden was reworked in the same job.

• Roots. Mature trees on the boundaries take most of the water, and their roots limit where you can dig.
• Clay. Heavy soil that is wet in winter and hard in summer.
• Levels. The beds step up from the lawn.
• What stays. The lawn as the main space, the garden room and the patio.
• Budget. The core works and the options were priced separately so the owners could choose what to include.

Design intent and proposal

A contemporary woodland edge: lush, controlled planting under the mature trees, evergreen structure with soft seasonal colour, and low flowing curves that hug the lawn and patio.

• Keep the lawn as the calm centre and work the new shapes round it
• Replace the brick raised beds with continuous curves of corten steel, upper and lower tiers, which follow the lawn and step round the roots and the level changes
• A gravel path along the curves from the patio to the garden room
• Improve the soil in every bed and put in irrigation, so new planting can compete with the trees
• A new laurel hedge on the far boundary and evergreen topiary in front of the garden room

The drawings

Designed by Craig Davis, BSc (Hons) Horticulture, and Eli, our in-house garden designer, who holds a BSc in design and a postgraduate diploma in garden design from the London School of Garden Design. Eli drew a concept design, planting and material mood boards and three concept layouts. The material board offered two routes: reuse the old bricks with corten edging, or replace the brick beds with continuous corten steel. The owners chose corten. A dimensioned setting-out plan followed for the build.

What we built

Built in July and August 2026.

• Old brick raised beds and selected planting cleared, working carefully round the tree roots
• About 74 metres of corten steel edging in four curved runs, upper and lower tiers
• Gravel path, about 27 m², dug out, formed and laid
• Soil improver worked into the beds to open up the clay
• Irrigation to the beds, then planting and mulch
• New laurel hedge on the far boundary
• Front garden: gravel drive refreshed, granite edging, revised beds and new front boundary fencing

Planting palette

Two layers, chosen for dry shade under mature trees: evergreens and ferns for structure all year, then flowers for colour from spring to autumn. Plants came from UK nurseries.

The result

• The lawn, garden room and patio kept, with the borders rebuilt round them
• Clean corten curves in place of crumbling brick, stepping round the roots rather than cutting through them
• A dry route to the garden room in all weathers
• Beds with improved soil and irrigation, giving the new planting a fair start against the trees
• Front and back finished in one job

Planning a garden like this

Under mature trees, light changes a lot through the year. Check how the sun moves across your garden with our free garden sun planner and read our garden orientation guide. Our advice on planting for shade and improving clay soil covers the two problems this garden had, and our naturalistic garden guide covers this softer look.

Explore further

See how our garden design service works, with fixed design fees, or read about our landscaping in Claygate and nearby Esher. The services used here were design and build, planting design and installation and irrigation. For another large garden, see our large garden redesign in Cobham, or browse the portfolio.

This page was written with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy by Craig Davis, BSc (Hons) Horticulture.