Garden design and build in Thao Dien — villa garden renovation and terraces

Thao Dien is the old name of a ward in District 2, on the bank of the Saigon River. Since 1 July 2025 the city has had wards, its local administrative units, in place of districts, and Resolution 1685/NQ-UBTVQH15 folded all of Thao Dien into An Khanh ward, which also takes in Thu Thiem and Sala. A lease that still says Thao Dien ward remains valid, and we accept either address.

Our office at 72 Nguyen Co Thach in Sala is in the same ward, so the team is in Thao Dien regularly. A survey can be booked for any day, between 7:00 AM and 8:00 PM; when building work can happen depends on the rules of your compound or tower.

Riverside villas

Along Nguyen Van Huong and Quoc Huong, usually with mature trees, a lawn, a pergola, a decked pool and a veranda looking onto the river.

Compound houses

Large houses with gardens behind a guarded gate.

Townhouses

Several storeys, with a roof terrace.

Apartments with terraces

Gateway Thao Dien (sky villas, garden villas, penthouses) and The Nassim (penthouses with roof terraces).

A Thao Dien villa garden is usually not an empty plot: the big trees already give shade, while in places the lawn dies in patches and the yard holds water after rain. Tuoi Tre newspaper (June 2025) places Quoc Huong, Nguyen Van Huong and Thao Dien streets in a low-lying area with old drains: if a downpour arrives at high tide, 0.15–0.3 m of water may sit there for an hour or two. Such a garden need not be cleared. Once the specialist has seen it, you hear which trees deserve to stay and what has to be rebuilt, and the work is split into phases.

First: levels and outlets

The levels of the yard, the drain gullies already there and the way water leaves for the shared system are checked. The proposal may then be a regraded surface, collecting channels, drainage gravel or pipes below ground; most wet yards get better this way.

Phase one

Everything underground (drainage, irrigation pipes, cable conduit), soil improvement and the trees that give the garden its frame.

Later

Flowers, decorative lighting and features, once you have lived with the space.

Lawn last

Laid only when groundworks, paths and large trees are done, so nobody tramples it.

The plant list is drawn up zone by zone, by hours of sun. Irrigation is planned with it, since many households here travel often: drip irrigation in beds and pots, mist where plants like humidity, sprinklers over a broad lawn, all on a timer reset as the seasons change. A suitably certified electrician wires the garden lights, with conduit for every cable, fittings made for outdoor use and residual-current protection on the circuit.

A garden build brings in soil, stone, pots, large plants, pipes and cable, so in a gated compound or an occupied house the practical points are settled at the survey. You can deal with us in English throughout; the concept, the estimate and the Up Report, our photo record of the finished work, are written in English on request. Should you need someone who speaks English on site, mention it at booking: when nobody is free we say so in advance and stay reachable by phone or message.

At the gate

Up specialists, UpClean's own staff, are identity-verified and trained to the Up Standard, and their names and photos reach you beforehand. Where the delivery vehicle parks, its way in and the use of outdoor water and power follow the guards' directions; tools are counted in and out.

Working hours

Set by the compound. Knowing them early lets us write a realistic schedule into the quote.

A house in use

Let household staff know when work begins and where not to walk for a while, the new turf above all.

Rented homes

Most homes let to foreigners in Thao Dien come furnished and stand empty for a while between two leases, a convenient time to redo the garden.

Gateway Thao Dien has garden villas and sky villas with terraces, and penthouses. The Nassim has penthouses too; two of more than 450 m² have a private pool and a barbecue area on the roof terrace, according to VIR (2015). Before plants are chosen for a space like this, three things are looked at: the load the floor slab will bear, the state of its waterproofing, and the force of the wind and of sunlight bouncing off the glazing.

Load and waterproofing

The weight of soil, pots and large plants is worked out first. Anything heavy calls for advice from a structural designer and from the building's management. Our usual answer is light pots and planters; soil is not tipped straight onto the slab.

Wind and reflected sun

Choose low, supple-stemmed plants and anchor their light pots well.

Getting materials up

Many buildings ask contractors to register in advance, use the goods lift or the lift assigned and work within set hours, so we ask first. UpClean is independent of the developers and managers of these projects.

Privacy

In a low-density project such as The Nassim, residents value discretion. Photos are taken only to record the site and for the Up Report.

No standard rate applies. Rebuilding the drainage and lawn of a riverside villa and setting planters on an apartment terrace cannot be compared. Neither the survey nor the quote costs anything. The estimate lists every item separately and names the plants with their sizes, the materials and the timetable; its all-inclusive total stays as written unless you approve a change in writing.

• Condition and area: how much of the old garden comes out, and how much rubble and poor soil is swapped.
• Plants: a big shade tree or a specimen plant costs more to buy, bring in and plant.
• Groundworks: how long the drains run, how many irrigation zones, which nozzles, how many lights.
• Materials: the paving, gravel, edging and big planters picked.
• Access: a terrace means the lift, in the hours the building or compound permits.
• Payment: on a larger project the quote may name a deposit; the rest is paid after the handover inspection, by bank transfer or cash.
• Warranty: on workmanship and on plants, exactly as your contract or quote sets out; faults found at inspection are corrected before handover.

When the work is finished you walk round it with the specialist and are given the Up Report, instructions for the irrigation timer, and a care plan for the early period: watering through the seasons, feeding dates, what to look for in roots and leaves. The opening months, before roots have taken and turf has knitted together, are a new garden's weakest. To book a survey, send photos of the space and a note of what you have in mind to 0968 726 135 by WhatsApp or Zalo.

Regular garden maintenance

Mowing, pruning, feeding and irrigation checks on an agreed schedule.

Mosquitoes around the garden

A separate service: the treatment is done by UpClean's own pest-control technicians.

Garden design and build across District 2

The district page: new plots in Sala and Binh Trung, and the five work groups of a project.

Guide: garden care in Saigon's rainy season

Drainage, storm pruning and watering during your absence.