Topoforma Landscape

22/05/2026

Presenting 'Understoreys' by mentored by , built by & planted with & . These beautiful photos by really capture the beauty of the planting palette Jacopo has created, featuring lesser known species and varieties of familiar genera and some wildflower gems.

The team pulled through some interesting challenges including a tight schedule, limited space, and some crazy weather to create a truly eye-catching display.

Of course, we couldn't have done with without our network of amazing growers and suppliers, , , , , , and our army of KLC volunteers, including & .pilgrim.design.

Watch this space!

15/04/2026

Today's marks 2 years since we broke ground on our Golden Gates brownfield park at ! The project took a small corner of the huge former landfill site on the bank of Thames and aimed to turn it into a public picnic and gathering space with huge value to both the human visitors to the space and a wide variety of wildlife.

The ground had many uses throughout the years, including a dumping area for construction waste - the ground comprised more masonry than soil, which we decided to use as an asset rather than an obstacle that needed clearing. The overall intentions, beside creating habitat and potential for increased biodiversity, was to create a space which demonstrated ecologically informed brownfield design to the viewing public, an ideas bank from which people could borrow and take home.

A network of open swales and ponds manages rainfall and surface water runoff, holding pollutants to be absorbed by plants before the water moves slowly towards a lake at the foot of the space; crushed construction materials of varying stone and man-made material have been sown with a seed mix of British wildflower species - some rare or declining in the country. Every feature in the space that has a human function also provides habitat opportunities for wildlife, making use of any 'waste' materials found on site too.

I'm overdue a visit back down there to see how it is getting on, but it will be thrilling to see its evolution.

Client:
Contractor:
Design: Sharon Chilvers & Topoforma Landscape

30/03/2026

There's nothing quite like the anticipation early spring brings; green shoots start appearing, tree flower buds bursting into much welcomed colour.

One of the most popular tree species for small gardens is Amelanchier lamarckii - it is hard to argue with it too much especially when it is in the familiar and beautiful multistem form. Structural silvery-grey stems throughout the winter become overtaken by the excitement of the trees being bejeweled by their small white starry flowers. We are at the doorstep of this spectacle, if you have one of these in your garden then enjoy every gorgeous second of it. The garden is waking from slumber, the sap is rising.

This garden we completed in spring last year is heading into its first full year of established growth, it is very exciting to see how it develops and matures.

16/03/2026

At Topoforma, we love to create beautiful verdant gardens for our clients to enjoy throughout the day, year round. Generous spaces for people to relax in are immersed in planting, with colour evolving throughout the seasons, from late winter flowering trees, shrubs and bulbs through to the late summer and autumn perennials.

Our gardens change rhythmically throughout the year, always with a strong character. Get in touch if you want to work with us to develop your outdoor space.

10/03/2026

Who else is looking forward to a year of sunshine in the garden? The sun is shining, spring is coiled and ready to go, and we're certainly looking forward to spending time out in the garden!

Our Mediterranean style courtyard project, completed in 2022, is just the garden perfect for entertaining friends or simply relaxing in with a glass of something chilled in the glorious sunshine.

📸 .la

31/12/2025

And so 2025 draws to a close...
Another year packed with gardens, plants, and stories to last a lifetime, from our spring build projects to building a beautiful show garden for at the inaugural RHS Wentworth Woodhouse Flower Show. Flying visits to EWT Thameside to check on how our Golden Gates picnic area is settling in (& fawning over the orchids/planting some Helleborines) with , who also joined us for the show build.

It has felt a little bit like a year of a slow, nurturing hand, particularly in guiding our establishing plantings, but also in the ever present lessons taught and learnt. 2026 looks to be shaping up to be a fantastic year - we can't wait to get stuck in!

27/10/2025

21/10/2025

Autumn is firmly setting in on our spring completed project! Buttery yellows from the Ginkgo biloba specimen trees pair beautifully with the late flowering Helianthus salicifolius, an often maligned feature of the species, but we find they add a needed pop of colour as the other late summer flowering plants are fading.

15/10/2025

It was a pleasure to attend the opening of Sam Dryell's rehomed show garden which we had the honour of building at RHS Wentworth Woodhouse. Acorns Hospice do some amazing work for children in Worcester and it's brilliant to contribute to the hospice even in a small way.

20/08/2025

A brief trip down to this morning to check on how the first phase of our Golden Gates project is settling in, and checking out the Bird Nest hide, designed by Alexandra Steed. The planting is showing the symptoms of how difficultly dry this year has been, species well into their seed head stage, not too much colour around apart from some bright spots - a few Evening Primrose and a single Verbena bonariensis.
We also transferred some of 's Epipactis palustris from his show garden into the space to add to the other orchid populations found on site.

We're very much looking forward to seeing how the space develops over the next few years!