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Free Garden Design Tool UK – Plan Your Garden with a Sun and Shade Map

Palm and Olive’s free garden design tool helps you plan a UK garden in minutes. Draw your garden to scale, see where the sun and shade fall through the day and the year, choose a style, and get a planting plan with trees that are hardy where you live – plus a priced plant list, the lawn and patio sizes, and a link to save or share your plan. No sign-up needed.

How the garden planner works

  1. Tell us where you are. Your postcode tells the planner how cold your winters get, so it only suggests trees that will survive outside where you live.
  2. Draw your garden. Tap round your fences on a grid, or trace a plan or photo you already have. The planner measures it, works out which way it faces and traces the sun and shade through the day and the year. Then mark anything you’re keeping – a patio, lawn, shed, pond or tree.
  3. Choose a style and tell us what you want. Mediterranean, tropical, Japanese, modern, cottage or low maintenance – plus how you use the garden, your budget, and anything you’d love (or don’t want) in your own words. Use our plants, or the best plants for your garden from anywhere.
  4. Get your personal AI garden design. Our AI garden designer designs your whole garden from scratch in about a minute – terrace, lawn, paths, borders and every plant placed to scale in the right light, with a priced plant list and the reasons behind it. Your first design is free; save it, print it, send it to us, or turn it into a full £19.99 design pack with your own garden photo, planting guide and care calendar.

Find a tree for one spot

Not redesigning the whole garden? Tell the planner where the tree will go – a patio pot, a pair by the front door, a border, a focal point or a privacy screen – how much sun it gets, your postcode, style, size and budget. It suggests the best five plants we sell, with a matching terracotta pot where it fits.

Garden styles that work in the UK

  • Mediterranean. Silvery olives, Italian cypress, warm gravel and terracotta – the look of a Tuscan or Provençal terrace. Plants: Olive trees, Italian cypress, fan palms, bay, figs, lemons and terracotta pots.
  • Tropical and exotic. Big leaves, palms and tree ferns layered for a lush, jungle feel that is still hardy in the UK. Plants: Hardy Trachycarpus palms, tree ferns, cordylines, Canary palms and cycads.
  • Japanese-inspired. Calm and clipped: cloud-pruned trees, Japanese maples, raked gravel and stepping stones. Plants: Cloud olive trees, Japanese maples, tree ferns and box balls.
  • Modern and minimal. Clean lines, large paving, a few architectural trees and repeated shapes. Plants: Cloud olives, olive standards, Italian cypress, Yucca rostrata and box balls.
  • Cottage and classic. Soft, relaxed English planting with curving lawn edges and fruit trees. Plants: Japanese maples, figs, bay trees, Red Robin and fruit.
  • Low maintenance. Tough evergreens that look good all year with little pruning or watering. Plants: Olive trees, Trachycarpus palms, Chamaerops, Yucca rostrata and cherry laurel.

Which way does your garden face?

Stand at your back door and look down the garden – that is the way it faces.

  • South-facing: The sunniest gardens in the UK – sun almost all day. Perfect for olive trees, palms, figs, lemons and Mediterranean planting.
  • West-facing: Shade in the morning, warm sun all afternoon and evening. Great for eating outside and for olives and cypress along the back fence.
  • East-facing: Bright morning sun and cooler afternoons. Japanese maples, tree ferns and Trachycarpus palms do well; save the hottest spot for an olive.
  • North-facing: Shade near the house but often sun at the far end, especially in summer. Tree ferns, cherry laurel and Trachycarpus palms cope with shade – put sun-lovers at the back.

Winter hardiness by UK region

The planner uses your postcode area to check each plant against typical hard-winter lows: about −4°C in the mild south-west and islands, −6°C in London, −8°C across southern England and south Wales, −10°C in the Midlands, East Anglia and Wales, −12°C in the north of England, southern Scotland and Northern Ireland, and −15°C in the Highlands and north-east Scotland.

Your personal AI garden design

Tell us in your own words what you would love in your garden – a sunny corner for morning coffee, space for the children, privacy from the neighbours – and our AI garden designer designs the whole garden from scratch around your drawing, your sun and shade, your postcode, your style and your budget. Choose plants from Palm and Olive, or the best plants for your garden from any UK nursery. Your first design is free; each new idea is £1.99.

Full garden design pack – £19.99

Turn your design into everything you need to build it: your own garden photo with the new design painted in, a scaled plan and planting plan, a side-view sketch, sun and shade maps for summer, spring and winter, a step-by-step planting guide, a month-by-month care calendar and materials and quantities for the patio, gravel, turf and edging. Download it or print it as a PDF.

Plants the planner chooses from

Garden design FAQs

Is the garden design tool really free?

Yes. Drawing your garden, seeing the sun and shade and your first personal AI garden design are free. If you would like a completely new idea, each extra AI design is £1.99, and the full design pack is £19.99. You only pay for plants if you decide to buy them.

How does the AI garden designer work?

You draw your garden, mark what you are keeping, choose a style and budget and tell us in your own words what you want. Our AI garden designer – trained to work like a professional garden designer – reads your sun and shade, your postcode’s winter cold and your wishes, and designs the whole garden from scratch: terrace, lawn, paths, borders and every plant, placed to scale with the reason it suits that spot.

Can the design use plants that Palm and Olive doesn’t sell?

Yes. Choose “The best plants for my garden” and the designer will recommend the best plants from any UK nursery, as well as ours. Plants we sell can go straight in your basket, and we can try to source the others for you.

What is in the £19.99 full design pack?

A photo of your own garden with the new design painted in, a scaled plan and planting plan, a side-view sketch, sun and shade maps for summer, spring and winter, a step-by-step planting guide, a month-by-month care calendar and materials and quantities for building it – ready to download or print as a PDF.

How accurate does my drawing need to be?

Rough sizes are fine – pace it out or use a tape measure for the main fences. The plan is drawn to scale from your numbers, so the closer they are, the better the tree spacing and the turf area will be.

How does it work out sun and shade?

It uses the way your garden faces, your latitude and the height of your fences and house to trace the sun across the sky in summer, spring and autumn, and winter. Each spot is coloured by how many hours of direct sun it gets.

Which way does my garden face?

Stand at your back door and look down the garden – the direction you are looking is the way the garden faces. A phone compass app tells you, or remember that the sun is in the south at midday.

Will the trees survive the winter where I live?

The planner checks each plant against typical winter lows for your postcode area, from the mild south-west to the Scottish Highlands, and only suggests plants that are hardy there – or tells you when one needs moving or wrapping in a hard frost.

What is the best tree for a small garden?

Slim or compact trees work best: an Italian cypress for height without width, a Japanese maple for colour, a cloud olive or olive standard for structure, or a Trachycarpus wagnerianus palm. The planner scales its picks to your garden size.

What are the best trees for privacy in the UK?

Italian cypress gives a slim evergreen screen in sunny gardens, while cherry laurel, bay and Red Robin make fast, dense hedges – cherry laurel even copes with shade. Tick “More privacy” and the plan adds a screen along your back fence.

Can I get help planting my design?

Yes. We deliver across mainland UK and offer tree planting and turf installation. Send us your plan on WhatsApp and we will quote for the plants, delivery and planting.

Can I save my plan?

Yes – use “Copy link” to keep a link that reopens your exact plan, or “Print or save as PDF”. You can also send it straight to us on WhatsApp.

How much does it cost to design a garden in the UK?

A professional garden designer usually charges from a few hundred to several thousand pounds. This free planner gives you a scaled planting plan in minutes, and our team is happy to check it for you when you order.

Also see Olive trees, Palm trees, Tree ferns, Acer trees, Pots and planters, Turf installation, Teak garden furniture.

Questions? Call or WhatsApp Palm and Olive on 07481 102135 or email info@palmandolive.co.uk.

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