TLC Garden Design
These images are AI-generated visual interpretations of real gardens we've designed and built.
When a client commissions a garden design, the plans and drawings are created for their property and their project. We respect that relationship. We don't publish clients' private garden designs or paid-for plans simply to fill a public gallery.
Instead, we've used AI to create illustrative images that communicate the design ideas, layout, character and features of real gardens we've constructed. These images are visual interpretations, not photographs of the completed gardens or copies of the original working drawings.
Each concept is accompanied by an indicative construction guide, helping you understand how the choice of materials, structures, planting and overall specification can affect the investment required.
The images are illustrative. The construction experience behind them is real. The prices aren't quotations; they're construction guides to help you explore what's possible for your own garden.
Most homeowners don't know their garden's exact area — and they don't need to. A rough idea of the length and width is enough to find the right group. Stand at the back door, look towards the boundary and think roughly how long the garden is. Then think roughly how wide it is. Now find the picture that looks most like it.
Smaller garden
Roughly 8–15m long × 4–6m wide
Compact gardens where every metre matters. The important thing is not the budget — it is the physical size of the space and what you choose to build within it.
See gardens like this
Medium garden
Roughly 15–25m long × 6–8.5m wide
A very common garden footprint, with enough room for several different layouts and specifications — from a straightforward patio-and-lawn garden to a highly finished outdoor living space.
See gardens like this
Larger garden
Roughly 20–35m+ long × 8–12m+ wide
More space allows larger lawns, longer routes, substantial planting, structures, water features and more extensive landscape construction.
See gardens like thisThat's all the measuring you need to do. These aren't design questionnaires or garden calculators. The idea is simply to recognise your garden visually, find some schemes that are roughly comparable and see what different levels of construction and specification could look like.
Garden size group 01
A smaller footprint does not mean a small ambition. You can build a straightforward patio-and-lawn garden here, or you can turn the same sort of space into a highly finished entertaining garden. The gallery below shows the difference.
Showpiece concept — the high-specification end of the same garden size
Yes, you can fit a serious outdoor entertaining space into a compact garden. This is the wow-factor example for this size group — the detailed construction guide and budget appear further down with the other schemes.
These are the bread-and-butter schemes as well as the more ambitious ones. Look at the image first, then use the construction guide underneath it to understand the broad level of investment.
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High-specification showpiece
A compact entertaining garden with large-format porcelain, cedar screening, a small outdoor kitchen and bar, hot tub, lounge, dining area, lawn, planting and lighting.
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Bread-and-butter starting point
A simple, attractive patio, lawn and planting scheme showing that a modest project can still produce a useful, well-resolved garden.
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Simple small garden
A straightforward garden built around a useful patio, a central lawn and a small shed at the far end. A good example of how little needs to be added to make a compact garden work well.
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Contemporary compact garden
A cleaner modern composition using defined paving, lawn, structured planting and contemporary materials.
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Cottage garden concept
A softer planting-led garden using natural materials, informal borders, a useful seating area and a relaxed route through the space.
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Planting-led concept
A detailed small garden concept showing how planting, lawn, paving and circulation can work together as one complete composition.
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Contemporary workshop garden
A clean, hard-wearing garden built around a substantial timber workshop for the serious DIYer. Full porcelain paving creates a durable, easy-to-clean working surface, while structured planting and the raised rendered border keep the space looking like a garden rather than a yard.
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Lighting-led evening garden
A compact contemporary garden designed to show how lighting can change the atmosphere and usability of the same physical space after dark.
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Evening entertaining concept
A compact garden arranged around outdoor living, planting and warm integrated lighting for a more atmospheric evening space.
Garden size group 02
This is the garden type many homeowners will recognise immediately. The point is not that every garden costs the same — it is that a broadly similar footprint can support very different levels of construction, materials and outdoor living.
Showpiece concept — the high-specification end of the same garden size
Large-format paving, a covered outdoor kitchen and bar, separate lounge and dining areas, a hot tub under a pergola, extensive planting and integrated lighting. The image is deliberately about possibility; the detailed construction guide comes below.
Start with the image. The construction guide beneath each card gives the broad investment range for the illustrated level of work.
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High-specification showpiece
A medium-sized garden taken to the high-specification end with outdoor kitchen, bar, lounge, dining, hot tub, pergolas, planting and integrated lighting.
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Bread-and-butter family garden
A familiar family-garden arrangement with a substantial sandstone patio, generous lawn, simple stepping-stone route, planting borders and a practical shed area.
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Contemporary family garden
Modern paving, structured planting, defined outdoor living space and lighting to lift the finish after dark.
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Planting-led cottage garden
A softer, heavily planted garden with natural stone paving, lawn, stepping-stone routes, rose arches, raised planting and a relaxed entertaining area.
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Country-style garden retreat
A more elaborate cottage-style scheme with natural stone, extensive borders, a rear seating area and a practical potting-shed element.
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High-specification outdoor living
A contemporary outdoor-living scheme with porcelain paving, hot tub, outdoor kitchen and bar, rendered planters, screening and a separate lounge area.
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When the ground changes the equation
Once a garden needs excavation, level changes, retaining structures, substantial steps and drainage, the construction requirement rises sharply.
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Major level-change garden
Several usable levels, retaining walls, central steps and substantial planting. The garden becomes structural construction as well as landscape.
Garden size group 03
At this scale, a garden can become a collection of connected landscapes rather than one single space. The current image is a first example; more concepts can be added as the library grows.
Showpiece concept — country-property scale
A substantial landscape with generous terrace, expansive lawn, woodland-style planting, naturalistic water, bridge and practical mower access. More large-garden concepts will be added here.
Country properties are rarely one single garden design. They can combine formal terraces, family lawns, kitchen gardens, entertaining spaces, woodland areas, pools, outbuildings and service routes into one coherent landscape.
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Country garden transformation
A substantial garden with generous terrace, expansive lawn, woodland-style planting, naturalistic water, bridge and practical mower access.
More large-garden concepts will be added here. A very large country property may effectively combine several of the smaller and medium-sized garden ideas into one coordinated landscape. The point of this library is to show what is possible at different scales — not to pretend one image can represent an entire estate.
Two gardens can be the same size but cost very different amounts to build. The ground, access and construction required are often what make the difference.
Straightforward starting point. Existing levels can often be retained.
More construction is involved. Steps, excavation, drainage and retaining may become necessary.
Structure becomes a major part of the project. Retaining walls, foundations, steel, access and disposal can significantly affect cost.
These are construction guides, not quotations. They give you a realistic sense of the investment associated with the garden shown. Actual costs depend on the site, access, ground conditions, drainage, retaining, materials and the work required.
The same-sized garden could cost £20,000 or £100,000+. What matters is not just the footprint, but what you are asking the garden to do.
So what happens next?
Found something that feels right for your garden? That's the starting point. We then work out what your actual site requires — and turn the idea into something that can genuinely be built.
Assess the actual garden — levels, access, drainage, how you use the space, layout, materials and construction requirements.
Turn the plan into real construction — groundworks, drainage, foundations, retaining, paving, walls, planting, lighting and outdoor living.
Create a connected landscape, not a collection of separate improvements — designed around how you actually want to live in it.
Found something that feels like your garden? You don't need a finished design. Show us the space and we'll talk through what it would take to build something similar.
Talk to TLC About Your GardenIf one of these garden concepts has given you an idea for your own garden, we'd be pleased to talk through the possibilities and give you a more meaningful guide based on your actual site.
Call: 01428 654812 · 07500 877949
Email: richard@tlchaslemere.co.uk
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