Commercial Landscaping London
Soil Sisters designs and builds commercial outdoor spaces across London. Office courtyards, rooftop terraces for new-build developments, restaurant gardens, hotel grounds, communal areas for residential schemes. We are a design-led practice, which means every commercial landscaping project starts with a proper brief and a considered design before any groundworks begin. That approach saves money, avoids costly mistakes on site, and produces spaces that work for the end users, not just ones that look good in a photograph. Call us on 0203 834 9807 or send us a project brief here.
What Commercial Landscaping Covers
Commercial landscaping serves a different brief to residential garden design. The spaces need to be durable under heavy footfall, low-maintenance enough to survive without a full-time gardener, compliant with public liability and planning requirements, and attractive enough to support your property's value and brand. We design and build across all of these project types.
Office and Corporate Courtyards
Courtyard gardens for offices, mixed-use buildings and corporate campuses. These spaces need to function as break-out areas, look presentable year-round, and require minimal day-to-day intervention. We specify shade-tolerant, low-maintenance planting schemes, durable paving materials, and often integrate raised planters, seating and outdoor lighting into the design. See our courtyard design guide for the approach we use.
Residential Development Landscaping
Communal gardens, residents' gardens, podium terraces and amenity spaces for housing developers. We work directly with developers, main contractors and their architects to deliver landscaping that complements the scheme, meets planning conditions, and performs well for residents from day one. We can provide 3D visuals for planning submissions or sales brochures as part of the service.
Hotel and Hospitality Outdoor Spaces
External dining terraces, hotel garden areas, bar gardens and event lawns. Hospitality clients need spaces that hold up under intensive use, look their best during peak season, and can be adapted for events. We design with drainage, lighting and service access built in from the start, not bolted on afterwards.
Retail and Entrance Landscaping
First impressions for retail parks, office buildings and mixed-use developments. Entrance planting, perimeter landscaping, feature trees, seasonal bedding and hard surface treatments that align with a property's identity.
Educational and Public Sector
School grounds, community spaces, local authority projects. We understand the additional requirements around public liability, DBS, safe working practices and accessibility compliance. Our projects include outdoor learning areas, sensory gardens and MUGA surrounds.
Commercial Landscaping Costs in London
No commercial landscaper publishes pricing, which is frustrating when you are trying to budget a project. We will not dodge it. The figures below are realistic 2026 ranges for London projects, based on our experience delivering commercial landscaping across the city and South East.
Per square metre rates cover design, materials and installation. They do not include VAT. Projects with restricted access, extensive groundworks, or high-specification materials sit at the top of the range.
| Project Type | Specification | Typical Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Small commercial courtyard (up to 100 sqm) | Porcelain or natural stone, planting, lighting | £8,000 – £25,000 |
| Medium commercial project (100–400 sqm) | Mixed hard and soft landscaping, drainage | £25,000 – £80,000 |
| Large development landscaping (400+ sqm) | Full-scope design and build, trees, structures | £80,000 – £250,000+ |
| Rooftop terrace or podium garden | Load-bearing design, irrigation, drainage tanking | £15,000 – £60,000+ |
| Design only (drawings, 3D visuals) | Commercial design package without build | £1,200 – £4,500 |
| Ongoing maintenance contract | Monthly visit, seasonal planting, clipping | £600 – £3,000/month |
Per sqm benchmarks for London commercial projects: basic soft landscaping runs £50–£80/sqm. Standard mixed hard and soft landscaping sits at £100–£160/sqm. Premium specification (natural stone, specimen trees, bespoke structures, lighting) typically reaches £160–£250/sqm. Rooftop and podium work involves structural loading calculations and drainage tanking which push costs higher than ground-level work of equivalent size.
The single biggest driver of cost variance is access. A site in Mayfair where everything has to be hand-balled through a narrow archway and craned over a neighbouring building costs more per sqm to build than a suburban site with direct vehicle access. We price this honestly in our quotes. No one wants a surprise invoice halfway through a development.
Our Commercial Landscaping Process
Here is how a commercial project runs from initial conversation to handover.
- Initial brief and site visit. We visit the site, understand the brief, review any planning conditions or specification requirements, and identify site-specific challenges. Access constraints, existing drainage, party wall considerations, tree preservation orders, listed building status. This is the stage where problems are identified rather than discovered mid-build.
- Design and 3D visualisation. We produce a design package appropriate to the project scope. This may include scaled planting plans, hard landscaping drawings, 3D visualisations for client sign-off or planning submission, a materials schedule and a preliminary cost plan. For developer clients we can produce documents in formats compatible with planning consultants and main contractors.
- Detailed quotation and programme. A fully itemised quote with a construction programme, milestone payments and a clear scope of works. Nothing in a Soil Sisters quote is vague. You know what you are paying for and when.
- Build phase. We manage the project on site. This includes coordinating with main contractors on development projects, managing sub-contractors for specialist trades, and maintaining a clean, safe site throughout. Weekly progress updates for client and developer contacts.
- Planting establishment and handover. Soft landscaping needs a proper establishment period. We include a planting handover visit, care instructions and a defects period. Plants that fail within the agreed guarantee period are replaced at our cost.
- Ongoing maintenance (optional). Monthly or quarterly maintenance contracts ensure commercial spaces stay in condition year-round. We offer fully managed contracts for developers and property managers, covering everything from seasonal planting changes to irrigation servicing and annual mulching.
London-Specific Challenges in Commercial Landscaping
Most commercial landscapers do not talk about the things that actually make London projects difficult. We do, because these are the factors that determine whether a project runs smoothly or turns into a negotiation about extras.
Access. London's commercial sites often have significant constraints. Narrow service roads, shared access through buildings, listed terrace frontages, basement light wells that cannot be stepped on. We plan logistics before we price, not after we have already committed to a programme.
Tree Preservation Orders. TPOs on existing trees affect what can be built within their root protection areas. Patios and structures near TPO trees require council approval and often involve consulting an arborist. We manage this process with clients rather than leaving it as a discovery item on site.
Party Walls. Development sites in London almost always involve shared boundaries. Any work within three metres of a party wall requires a Party Wall Agreement. We flag this at briefing and work with the client's party wall surveyor from the start.
Structural loading for rooftop and podium projects. Rooftop gardens and raised podium terraces require structural calculations to confirm loading capacity before specifying substrates, planters and paving. We commission structural engineer input on these projects as a standard step, not an afterthought.
Planning conditions. Many London development approvals include landscaping conditions that specify materials, species, or hard/soft coverage ratios. We work with planning consultants and local authority officers to ensure our designs satisfy conditions, saving clients from having reserved matters sent back for amendment.
Why Commercial Clients Choose a Design-Led Approach
Most commercial landscaping contractors are just that: contractors. They can execute a scheme from a drawing someone else produced, but they are not the right first call when a scheme does not yet have a landscape design. Soil Sisters sits at the junction between design and build. We produce the drawings, get client sign-off on a 3D visualisation, price the build against that agreed design, and deliver it. One team, one relationship, one set of drawings everyone is working from.
For developers, this matters at planning stage. For operators, this matters at handover when the maintenance team needs clear documentation of what has been planted and where. For property managers who inherit a site, it means there is a design record rather than a collection of contractor invoices with no accompanying drawings.
See our commercial garden design services page for more on the design side of commercial projects, and our garden design and build service in London for how design and build works across both commercial and residential projects.
Areas We Cover for Commercial Landscaping
We take on commercial projects across Greater London and the South East. Our strongest concentration of commercial work is across central, west and south-west London, but we regularly work across the full city.
- Central London: The City, Westminster, Southwark, Lambeth
- West London: Hammersmith, Chelsea, Kensington, Fulham
- North London: Islington, Camden, Hackney, Shoreditch
- South London: Wandsworth, Battersea, Clapham, Greenwich, Bermondsey
- South East: Kent (Sevenoaks, Bromley), Surrey (Richmond, Guildford)
- South West: Richmond, Twickenham, Kingston
For large development projects we travel further afield across the South East. Contact us with your project details and location and we will confirm coverage.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the minimum project size you work on for commercial clients?
For commercial landscaping projects we typically work from £10,000 upwards on build-only work, or from £1,200 for a design-only package where the client manages their own contractor. Below that threshold, the project management overhead makes it uneconomical for both parties. We are happy to discuss smaller commercial maintenance requirements separately.
Can you provide 3D visuals for planning applications or developer sales brochures?
Yes. 3D visualisations are part of our design service for commercial clients. We can produce realistic renders of proposed landscaping schemes for planning submissions, Reserved Matters applications, sales brochures and pre-letting materials. Design fees including 3D visuals typically sit between £1,500 and £4,500 depending on project complexity and the number of views required.
Do you work directly with main contractors and architects?
Yes, and this is how the majority of our commercial landscaping work comes in. We are used to operating as a specialist subcontractor within a main contractor programme, attending site meetings, working to contractor programmes, and providing documentation in formats the main contractor and design team need. We have professional indemnity insurance and public liability cover appropriate for commercial projects.
How long does a commercial landscaping project take?
A small commercial courtyard (up to 100 sqm) typically takes 2–4 weeks on site once the design is agreed and materials are on order. Medium projects (100–400 sqm) usually run 4–10 weeks. Larger development schemes are phased and programmed to coordinate with main contractor handover dates. The design stage adds 3–6 weeks before build begins. Lead times for materials, particularly natural stone and specimen trees, need to be factored into the programme from the start.
What accreditations and insurance do you hold?
Soil Sisters holds professional indemnity insurance covering garden design, and public liability insurance for commercial projects. We carry out all work in compliance with CDM regulations where applicable, and can provide RAMS (Risk Assessment and Method Statements) for commercial site requirements. We are a professional practice with fully qualified garden designers and experienced landscaping contractors.
Do you offer ongoing maintenance contracts for commercial clients?
Yes. Monthly maintenance contracts for commercial clients typically run from £600/month for smaller schemes to £3,000+/month for larger or more complex sites requiring multiple visits. We offer quarterly reviews, seasonal planting changes, irrigation servicing and annual condition reports. Property managers and developers find this particularly useful for communal residential gardens where a consistent standard needs to be maintained for residents.
Can you help with landscaping planning conditions attached to a development consent?
Yes. Many London planning consents include detailed landscaping conditions specifying species lists, coverage ratios, hard surface materials and ecological requirements. We work with planning consultants and local authority planning officers to produce landscaping schemes that discharge these conditions cleanly. We have experience with conditions attached to both full planning permissions and permitted development prior approvals.
Talk to Us About Your Commercial Project
The quickest way to move forward is a brief conversation about the site and the brief. Call us on 0203 834 9807 and ask for the commercial team, or use our project enquiry form to send over site details, drawings, or a specification if you have one. We respond to all commercial enquiries within one working day.
For residential landscaping projects in London, see our landscaping London service page. For specific borough service areas, browse our areas page.