Garden design and build

Survey, levels, structure, surface, planting

A full garden is a construction project with plants at the end of it. We run it that way. Survey the existing ground and the levels. Work out where the terraces sit and how water leaves the site. Design the retaining, the steps and the drainage. Then the surfaces, the boundaries, the lighting and finally the planting.

Doing it in that order means the expensive structural decisions get made when they are still cheap to change — on paper — rather than when there is a digger on site.

You get one contract, one programme and one guarantee. We do not hand you off to three different trades and let you referee between them.

How a garden project runs

1. Site visit and surveyWe measure, take levels and photograph everything. For larger or awkward gardens we will sometimes fly a drone and work a scale plan up from the aerial image.
2. Concept and proposalA written proposal with the scope, the construction details, a programme and one price. Visuals where they help you picture it.
3. Deposit and drawingsOnce you accept and the deposit clears, we produce the setting-out drawings and order the materials from single batches.
4. Groundworks and structureStrip out, dig, drainage, footings, retaining walls and steps. The longest and least photogenic part of the job.
5. Surfaces and boundariesPaving, edges, screening and fencing. This is where it starts to look like the drawing.
6. Lighting, soft landscaping and handoverLighting installed and commissioned, topsoil, turf and planting, then a full clean and your completion pack.