Gardens and driveways for Sydenham’s hillside villas, early Victorian terraces and interwar homes: a terrace to sit out on, a lawn that copes with the clay, and a drive that works on a sloping street.
Sydenham grew quickly once the railway arrived in 1839, and faster still after the Crystal Palace was re-erected on Sydenham Hill in 1854. Large houses went up in a short time on the slopes below it.
The palace burned down in 1936, but the houses it drew are still here. Sydenham has seven conservation areas, the most of any part of Lewisham, from the villas of Sydenham Hill to the 1840s houses of Halifax Street with their long gardens.
That mix of slopes, period houses and big old trees is what makes a Sydenham garden worth planning properly rather than patching.
Large, often sloping plots with mature trees. Terraces and steps that deal with the levels, and planting that suits the age of the house.
Breaking a long plot into rooms: somewhere to eat by the house, lawn in the middle, a quiet seat or studio at the end.
Built from 1923 with green, spacious streets. Front gardens ready for a driveway and back gardens with room for a proper family layout.
Sydenham sits on London Clay, with the sandier Claygate beds capping the ridge at Sydenham Hill. Clay holds water through winter and shrinks in a dry summer, and on a slope that water has to go somewhere. The springs that once made Sydenham Wells a spa are a reminder of it.
Sydenham falls under the London Borough of Lewisham. We check every design against the rules before we quote, and manage any applications for you.
Complete makeovers for Sydenham’s bigger and sloping plots, with the levels, drainage and planting planned as one project.
Terraces built on a deep base for Sydenham clay, with steps where the garden falls away.
Driveways laid to drain properly, planned around Lewisham’s crossover rules.
Privacy for terraced and estate gardens, built within Lewisham’s height limits.
The places that shape how Sydenham looks, and often inspire the gardens we build here.
Named after springs found in the 1640s that turned Sydenham into a spa. Opened as a park in 1901 after a campaign to stop it being built over.
Lewisham’s oldest municipal park, a green space in the middle of Sydenham.
A nine-hectare nature reserve on the slopes of the hill, part of what remains of the old Great North Wood.
The palace was re-erected on Sydenham Hill in 1854 and burned down in 1936. It shaped the houses and streets below it.
Plank-format light paving wrapping a modern house, with steps from the doors, raised edges and a generous open terrace.
Timber sleeper raised beds and steps, white gravel around a mature tree and a paved terrace in front of the summer house.
A wide grey block-paved driveway laid in herringbone, with charcoal border courses across the front of the house.
“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 Lewisham Council’s approval, with the council’s contractor building it. We design to avoid the first and help with the second.
Yes. We terrace it with retaining walls and steps and plan the drainage first, so water runs where it should. A raised platform more than 30cm above the ground needs planning permission, so we design the levels with that in mind.
Sydenham has seven conservation areas, including Sydenham Hill, Sydenham Park and Jews Walk. Work on most trees needs six weeks’ notice to the council, and front-garden changes should respect the street. We’ll flag anything that needs consent before we quote.
Yes. Many Sydenham terraces are like this. We protect floors and hallways and plan deliveries carefully.
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.