Woodland Garden Design in Sydenham Hill, South London
This garden in Sydenham Hill, South London, sits behind a tall modern townhouse and is around 12 metres long. It is a fairly narrow space, but what makes it unusual is the small pocket of natural woodland directly behind it, which gave the garden a much stronger backdrop than the original layout was making use of.
When I first saw it, the garden was well looked after but quite dated, with a straight lawn running down the middle and narrow borders on either side. There were plenty of bedding plants, but the whole garden could be understood in one glance, so it felt flatter and more predictable than the setting deserved.
The Brief for This Sydenham Hill Garden
The client wanted the garden to feel like somewhere they could switch off properly, with a dining area close to the house and a more relaxed seating area at the far end beside the woodland.
Because the garden backed directly onto trees, I didn’t want the design to stop abruptly at the boundary. The aim was to make the garden feel as though it continued into the woodland beyond, so the planting and layout needed to work with that view rather than compete with it.
Moving Away From the Straight Layout
The existing garden was very linear, so one of the main changes was to move away from the straight lawn and borders and introduce much softer curves through the space.
A meandering path now leads through the garden, with broad curved borders on either side. This changes the way you move through it because the whole garden is no longer visible from the house, and as you walk down the path, different areas come into view gradually.
That was important in a garden of this size because it helped make the space feel less narrow and gave the woodland at the end much more presence.
Using the Woodland as Part of the Garden
The planting was designed to become looser as it moved towards the back of the garden, which helped soften the boundary and make the existing woodland feel much more connected to the space.
Rather than using a tight planting palette, I chose a wider range of plants because the client wanted the garden to feel more relaxed and less controlled. The curved borders gave enough structure to hold everything together, while the planting could be more generous and informal within them.
The woodland behind the garden also influenced how much we needed to put into the space itself. There was no point trying to compete with mature trees, so the garden design made more of the depth and greenery that were already there.
A Hidden Seating Area at the Woodland Edge
At the bottom of the garden, a seating area was created close to the woodland, with bamboo helping to make it feel more enclosed from the rest of the space.
Because you can’t see this area clearly from the house, it feels separate from the dining space near the property. You have to move through the garden to reach it, which gives the far end a reason to be used rather than simply becoming the part of the garden you look towards.
The position beside the woodland also makes it naturally quieter, so it works well as the more relaxed end of the garden.
A Sydenham Hill Garden That Reveals Itself Slowly
What works best in the finished garden is the way the layout changes what you see as you move through it. The path and curved borders stop the garden from being read all at once, while the planting creates enough depth that each part feels slightly different from the last.
The dining area remains close to the house where it is easy to use, while the seating at the woodland edge feels more removed. Between the two, the garden now has much more depth and makes far better use of the natural setting behind it.