Ku-ring-gai & Hornsby
Landscape design & construction in Upper North Shore
Established gardens on generous blocks, framed by canopy.
The region
The Upper North Shore is Sydney's canopy country — deep leafy blocks, mature trees, and clients who value garden depth over garden theatre. We design here for slow reveal: hedged approaches, considered lawns, and pools tucked behind planting rather than centred in it.
Suburbs served
Character
Large blocks (often 1000m²+), Blue Gum High Forest and Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark remnants, heavy clay-loam soils, deep shade in mature suburbs.
Climate & soil
Cooler than the coast, wetter, and shaded. Rhododendrons, Camellias, Michelia, tree ferns and Hydrangeas thrive here in a way they simply don't further east. Lawns need premium turf choices (Kikuyu falters in the shade; Sir Grange or fine fescues perform).
Council & approvals
Ku-ring-gai is one of the strictest tree authorities in NSW — the LEP protects almost every mature tree and Blue Gum High Forest carries additional biodiversity controls. Anything within TPZ needs arborist sign-off; often that shapes the design more than the client's brief does.
Council areas — Ku-ring-gai Council · Hornsby Shire Council
Signature work in Upper North Shore
What we build here, and why.
Estate-scale landscape masterplans
Whole-property design across generous blocks — driveway approach, front garden, pool zone, kitchen garden, service yard.
Canopy-friendly pools
Pool placement, engineering and construction methodology that works around protected trees and preserves the tree-canopy character.
Shade-tolerant garden design
Considered planting for deep-shade Upper North Shore blocks — hydrangea walks, fern gullies, camellia hedging.
Recent work
Questions we hear
Working in Upper North Shore.
How does the tree canopy affect pool design?
It usually moves the pool location. Once we've mapped protected trees and their Tree Protection Zones with an arborist, the available footprint becomes obvious — and pool placement follows from there.
Do you work on estate-scale gardens over 1,500m²?
Regularly. Larger blocks let us design in sequences — approach, arrival, entertaining, service — and that's some of our most rewarding work. Budget and timeline scale accordingly.