Gardens and driveways for Bromley’s Victorian villas, late-Victorian streets and 1930s homes: a terrace that gets used, a lawn that copes with the weather, and a drive that makes coming home easier.
Bromley is an old market town, granted a weekly market by King John in 1205, and for centuries the home of the Bishops of Rochester, who kept their palace here until 1845.
The railway arrived in 1858 and the town grew fast around it. In Bickley, George Wythes built large houses for wealthy families, many designed by Richard Norman Shaw and Ernest Newton. Plaistow filled up after its own station came in 1878, and in Hayes the grounds of Hayes Place were built over after the house was demolished in 1933.
That mix shows in the gardens: big Victorian plots with mature trees, long town gardens, and family gardens on the newer roads, with Hayes and Keston commons on the doorstep.
Large plots and mature trees in some of the borough’s best-known conservation areas. Terraces, paths and planting that suit the house and keep the character of the road.
Long, narrow gardens to break into rooms: a terrace by the house, lawn in the middle, a quiet seat or studio at the end.
Front gardens ready to become driveways, side returns to open up, and back gardens with room for a proper family layout.
Much of Bromley sits on London Clay, which drains poorly. Towards Hayes and Keston the commons are on the pebbly Blackheath beds, with thin, acid soils. Clay holds water through winter and cracks in a dry summer, so a garden here has to be built for whichever you have.
Bromley is run by the London Borough of Bromley. We check every design against the rules before we quote, and manage any applications for you.
Complete makeovers for Bromley’s bigger plots: somewhere to eat, somewhere to play, all planned as one project.
Terraces built on a deep base for Bromley clay, with drainage designed in.
Driveways for family homes, with the dropped-kerb application handled.
Privacy for town and family gardens, built within Bromley’s height limits.
The places that shape how Bromley looks, and often inspire the gardens we build here.
What survives of the bishops’ parkland: lawns, a lake, mature trees, Pulhamite rockwork, an ice house and a folly, several of them Grade II listed.
Victorian houses on large plots, many by Richard Norman Shaw and Ernest Newton, now protected in the Bickley Park and Mavelstone Road conservation areas.
Around 79 hectares of open common on pebbly, acid soil, with oak, birch, bracken, gorse and heather.
Heath and woodland at the head of the Ravensbourne, with one of the very few valley bogs left in London.
Plank-format light paving wrapping a modern house, with steps from the doors, raised edges and a generous open terrace.
A light-grey porcelain driveway with a charcoal block-paved centre panel and contrasting bands, in front of a bungalow.
Cream stone-effect paving with curved cuts, a sweeping gravel border, curved flower beds and a large central lawn.
“My husband and I are very pleased with the job that was done on the landscaping in front of our new home. I recommend this company without hesitation. The guys were always friendly and communicated everything with us as they went along. It is beautiful to see when we pull into our driveway everyday. Thank you so much and keep up the good work.”
“Guaranteed Great Gardens built the concrete walls around our house. They did the job with great care and precision. Their professionalism and quality were evident at every step. I am truly pleased with their work. I will definitely choose them again if I have to do a similar job in the future.”
Not usually, if it’s permeable or drains into the garden. More than 5m² of non-permeable surface in a front garden needs planning permission, and a new or widened dropped kerb needs a separate crossover application to Bromley Council. We design to avoid the first and handle the second for you.
Much of Bickley is in the Bickley Park, Sundridge Avenue or Mavelstone Road conservation areas, so work on most trees needs six weeks’ notice to the council, and front-garden changes should respect the character of the road. We’ll flag anything that needs consent before we quote.
It shapes how we build, not what you can have. We dig deeper, use a thicker compacted base and plan drainage from the start, so your patio stays level and your lawn doesn’t turn to mud every winter.
Plenty, if the plants suit it. The ground by the commons is sandy, pebbly and acidic, so we choose plants that like those conditions and improve the beds where you want a lawn or borders.
Book a free design visit. We’ll talk about how you want to use your garden or drive, and what the ground and the rules mean for it.
Your enquiry is with our design team. We’ll be in touch within one working day to book your free visit.