LANDSCAPE DESIGN · Lower North Shore
Landscape Design in Riverview
For more than twenty years we have designed and built gardens across Sydney’s Lower North Shore, and landscape design in Riverview is work we know well. It is a quiet, leafy suburb of established family homes on generous blocks, many falling towards the Lane Cove River and carrying significant trees, where the brief is usually a considered family garden that works with the terrain and sits comfortably among the canopy.
As your project gets started, we set up a meeting to understand your needs and the space you’re working with. We talk through ideas and materials, and draw on our past projects to see how they might fit your home. After that meeting we send over a quick questionnaire for you to complete. The questionnaire, together with the insights gathered from our initial conversation, forms the foundation of a comprehensive project overview tailored to your new garden.
With experience within and around Riverview, our understanding of the area is extensive. Our collection of projects and our experience let us confidently create garden designs and build landscapes of various forms, from a single considered courtyard through to a full garden, pool and entertaining area. If you have a question about our services or your own project, call us on 1300 460 690.
- TYPICAL BLOCK Large, leafy, sloping to river
- COUNCIL Lane Cove Council
- KEY OVERLAY Tree preservation + foreshore bushland
Why Riverview is different
Riverview is shaped by the river it looks over. Blocks are generous but frequently steep, dropping towards the foreshore and bushland reserves, so retaining, terracing and access are central to any landscape design in Riverview alongside the garden itself. Established canopy is protected under Lane Cove controls, so a good design works with the existing trees and levels rather than around a removal that may not be approved, and planting is chosen to blend into the bushland while framing the water outlook rather than blocking it.
Services in Riverview
Having completed projects across the Lower North Shore, we understand the Riverview brief, from pools and entertaining terraces stepped into the fall of the land through to lawns, foreshore 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.
Riverview council & site notes
Lane Cove Council
Riverview is within the Lane Cove Council area, one of the greener LGAs on the North Shore. Established trees are commonly protected, so removal or significant pruning usually needs consent, and it is better to design around a tree you are likely to keep than to bank on a removal that may not be approved. Blocks bordering foreshore reserves or bushland can be bushfire-mapped and carry additional controls, and larger structures or pools may need a development application. We factor this in during design and can prepare the documentation council requires.
Riverview FAQs
It depends on the size of the block and how much level change sits under the garden. A courtyard or entry garden sits at one end of the scale, a full masterplan with pool, terraces and retaining at the other. Riverview blocks commonly fall steeply towards the Lane Cove River or a reserve boundary, so structural work such as retaining, steps and drainage often carries more of the budget than planting does. We give you a clear picture of the likely investment after the first meeting and questionnaire. Call 1300 460 690 to talk through a range for your site.
Often yes. Riverview sits within Lane Cove Council, and pools, larger structures, significant retaining walls and most tree removal require consent, while planting, turf and garden bed work generally does not. Blocks near bushland reserves and the foreshore can carry extra controls. We assess this during design and prepare the documentation council requires rather than leaving you to work it out.
Established trees in Riverview are commonly protected, so removal or heavy pruning needs consent and is never guaranteed. Our approach is to design around the trees you are likely to keep, then use levels, sightlines and planting to open the view towards the river rather than relying on a removal that may be refused.
By working with the fall instead of fighting it. Stepped terraces, engineered retaining and platforms create genuinely flat areas for a lawn, a pool or an entertaining space at the levels that suit the house. Resolving levels and drainage early is also what keeps excavation and retaining costs under control, which is where sloping sites can otherwise run over.
Yes. Pools set into a fall are one of the more common briefs in this pocket, and they usually involve engineered retaining, careful excavation access and a terrace that ties the pool back to the house. Because our pool builders and structural landscapers are in house, the pool, the retaining and the surrounding garden are designed and delivered as one project rather than three separate trades.
Blocks bordering bushland reserves or the foreshore can be bushfire mapped, which affects the materials allowed for decks, screens and structures, the clearances around them, and planting choices near the boundary. We factor this in from the concept stage so the finished garden still feels lush while meeting the requirements.
Access planning is part of the design. Where a block is steep or the street frontage is tight, we plan staging, choose construction methods that suit the access available, and where needed crane materials over the house. Working this out before the design is locked in avoids expensive rethinks mid build.
Planting that reads as an extension of the surrounding canopy works best, typically hardy species suited to sandstone soils along the reserve boundary, with softer, more structured layers closer to the house where you actually spend time. Sandy soils, shade from established trees and slope all shape the selection.
Design usually runs over a few weeks from the first meeting through concept to documentation, depending on how much back and forth you want. Construction timing depends on scope, access and whether council approval is needed, with approvals frequently the longest single variable on a Riverview project. We give you an indicative program once the scope is settled.
Yes. The team includes landscape architects, project managers, pool builders, structural landscapers and horticulturalists, so your project runs from first concept to a finished, planted garden without being handed between separate businesses. One point of accountability, and no gap between what was drawn and what gets built.
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