Can I remove a tree to make room for a pool or new garden?

Lane Cove is one of the greener LGAs on the North Shore and established trees are commonly protected, so removal or significant pruning usually needs consent. Rather than build a design around a removal that may not be approved, we design with the existing canopy in mind and work out where a pool or terrace can sit without touching a protected tree.

How do you handle a sloping block?

Most Lane Cove blocks carry a gentle fall. That is usually best resolved with modest terracing and carefully set levels rather than heavy excavation, which keeps costs down and creates usable flat areas for lawn, a terrace or a pool.

Do you build the garden as well as design it?

Yes. Our team includes landscape architects, project managers, pool builders, structural landscapers and horticulturalists, so a project runs from concept through to a finished, planted garden without being handed between separate businesses.

Can you build a pool as part of the landscape design?

Yes, pools are a core part of what we do and are best designed as part of the whole garden rather than added later. That way the pool, terrace, planting and levels resolve together.

What planting works well in Lane Cove?

The leafy aspect suits layered planting: screening hedges and feature trees for privacy and structure, with infill planting for colour and seasonal interest. Working with the bushland character of the area tends to produce a garden that looks settled rather than imposed.

Which other suburbs do you work in?

We work across Sydney's Lower North Shore and beyond, including Artarmon, Willoughby, Chatswood, Roseville, Lindfield and Killara.

Landscape-designed backyard in Lane Cove with swimming pool, timber deck, covered entertaining area and lush garden planting.

LANDSCAPE DESIGN · Lower North Shore

Landscape Design in Lane Cove

For more than twenty years we have designed and built gardens across Sydney’s Lower North Shore, and landscape design in Lane Cove is work we know well. It is a green, family-oriented suburb of established homes, many on gently sloping blocks close to bushland and the Lane Cove River. The brief here is usually a practical, well-planted family garden that connects to the home and makes the most of a leafy setting.

TYPICAL BLOCK Medium, often sloping
COUNCIL Lane Cove Council
KEY OVERLAY Tree preservation + bushland edges

Why Lane Cove is different

Lane Cove sits among some of the most heavily treed streets on the Lower North Shore, and that shapes the work. Established canopy and bushland edges bring genuine tree-protection considerations, so a good design works with the existing trees rather than around a removal that may not be approved. Blocks often carry a gentle fall that is best resolved with modest terracing and considered levels, and the leafy aspect suits layered planting that gives privacy and structure through the year.

Services in Lane Cove

Having completed projects in Lane Cove and across the Lower North Shore, we understand the brief, from pools and entertaining terraces through to lawns, planting and full landscape builds. Our team includes landscape architects, project managers, pool builders, structural landscapers and horticulturalists, so a project moves from concept to a finished, planted garden without being handed between separate businesses.

A project in the Lane Cove area

Campbell Avenue Lane Cove landscape design with lawn, lush garden planting and glass pool fencing.

The Lane Cove project reworks a family garden into a connected outdoor living space, with a pool and entertaining terrace sited to catch the sun and layered planting screening close neighbours. It is the Lane Cove brief in one project: a practical family garden that sits comfortably in a leafy, established setting.

View project

Lane Cove council & site notes

Lane Cove Council

Lane Cove is within the Lane Cove Council area, which manages one of the greener LGAs on the North Shore. Established trees are commonly protected, so removal or significant pruning usually needs consent, and blocks bordering bushland can carry additional controls. Some works proceed as exempt or complying development, while larger changes or pools may need a development application. We factor this in during design and can prepare the documentation council requires.

“What impressed us was the thinking behind the layout. Every area has a purpose and they all connect, so the garden feels bigger than it is. The screening hedges and feature trees give it structure now, and it will only look better as it fills in. It is a design that suits how we actually live, not just how it photographs.”
— Michael, Lane Cove

Lane Cove FAQs

It depends on the scope. Some works proceed as exempt or complying development, while larger changes and most pools need a development application through Lane Cove Council. Blocks bordering bushland can carry additional controls. We factor approvals into the design stage and can prepare the documentation council requires.