London, UK, Sept. 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A growing number of UK homeowners are asking for functional gardens that prioritise usability over show, according to Fantastic Gardeners, which says semantic analysis of trends in enquiries showed that requests increasingly focus on drainage, manageable planting and layouts suited to everyday routines rather than seasonal display.
A Fantastic Gardeners team finalising a garden makeover to deliver a low maintenance, usable garden.
A North West London landscaping project completed in early 2026 illustrates the shift. The homeowner wanted a functional garden that was easier to enter, maintain and use regularly – not a show garden, but a practical one – and asked Fantastic Gardeners to help reshape both the front and back gardens around that brief.
Key Findings
- Fantastic Gardeners says client briefs are increasingly framed around manageability and daily use rather than visual impact alone
- The most common request is not a visual transformation but a practical one: better structure, improved drainage and planting that does not demand constant attention
- Drainage has become one of the most frequently cited concerns in domestic garden enquiries, ahead of planting and layout
- The North West London project delivered raised beds, gravel surfacing, additional soakaway capacity and low-upkeep planting across both front and back gardens
Gardens Are Being Designed Around Everyday Life
Fantastic Gardeners says the shift toward functional garden design is clearest in its own enquiry pipeline. Clients increasingly describe gardens that have become difficult to maintain, hard to enter or simply not inviting enough to use regularly. The company says the brief has changed: where clients once asked how a garden would look, they now more often ask how much work it will take and whether they will actually use it.
Research mapping Britain’s gardens put the total at 959,800 hectares, or 4.6% of Great Britain’s land area, with 42% of domestic garden space paved over. Fantastic Gardeners says the figures reflect how much outdoor space exists across the country and how much of it has been simplified or hard-surfaced over time – often, in the company’s experience, because maintenance had become unmanageable.
The company says the same question arises in almost every domestic enquiry it handles: whether a garden has been designed to be used or to be looked at.
North West London Landscaping Project: A Case Study
The homeowner wanted to return to gardening after a significant change in her personal circumstances had forced her to step back. Her brief to the Fantastic Gardeners team was clear: make the space more structured, easier to maintain and welcoming enough to use regularly.
The landscaping project covered both the front and back gardens. Work included raised planting beds, gravel surfacing in key areas to improve drainage and reduce upkeep, defined lawn edging, refreshed entrance features, garden clearance and tree pruning to open up light to previously shaded beds. Drainage was a particular focus: the team installed additional soakaway capacity and regraded sections of the garden to direct water away from the lawn and planting areas.
New planting was chosen for colour, scent and seasonal interest with minimal upkeep in mind – including lavender, mint, climbing roses and jasmine along the rear fence line.
Heavy winter rainfall introduced complications during the work. The team adjusted the original plan to strengthen drainage, reinforce edging and refine the layout as conditions developed. The homeowner remained closely involved throughout and described the process as a close working collaboration with a team that had understood her vision for the space.
Low-Maintenance Does Not Mean Lifeless
Fantastic Gardeners says one of the clearest lessons from the project is that reducing maintenance demands does not require removing planting, character or seasonal interest from a garden. Overgrown borders, poor drainage and unclear layouts are the frustrations that stop people using an outdoor space – not a lack of interest in gardens themselves.
“Gardens tend to fall out of use gradually,” said Rune Sovndahl, CEO of Fantastic Gardeners. “The space becomes harder to manage, and people stop going outside as the garden starts to feel like a burden. What we see, again and again, is that relatively straightforward changes – better drainage, clearer structure, planting that doesn’t demand constant attention – are enough to bring a garden back into daily life. That is usually what a client is asking for, and it is where the most useful work happens.”
From Property Upgrade to Personal Space
Fantastic Gardeners says client expectations have shifted in a meaningful direction over recent years. Garden landscaping and design services are less frequently described as property investments and now more often framed around how a space will be lived in – for rest, routine, entertaining or simply spending time outside.
The North West London project is one example. The visible outcome was a more ordered, accessible and attractive functional garden. The more significant outcome was that the homeowner had a practical reason to step back into a space she had loved for years.
About Fantastic Gardeners
Fantastic Gardeners is one of London’s largest garden landscaping and maintenance providers, offering professional services for private homes across London and the UK. Clients are matched with London-based gardeners according to their project details, and all gardeners are vetted, with next-day availability across the capital. Its teams support one-off garden transformations, regular maintenance, lawn care, planting, hedge trimming, pruning, clearance, landscaping, garden design and seasonal tidy-ups, alongside general property maintenance and emergency garden clearances.
Fantastic Gardeners focuses on creating practical, well-managed outdoor spaces that suit each client’s lifestyle – from projects that swiftly deliver low-maintenance family gardens to detailed planting, complete redesign and substantial landscaping.
Fantastic Gardeners design and build gardens customers can enjoy with minimal maintenance.
Press Inquiries
Media contact: press@fantasticservices.com
