Landscaping Services in Norwich

A garden makeover starts with how you want to use the space, not with a catalogue. Somewhere to eat outside, a lawn the children can play on, less mowing, more privacy, a slope you can finally walk down: we walk the garden with you, listen, then put a layout and a quote together around that.

Because we do the hard landscaping and the soft landscaping ourselves, one team sees the job through. The same people who dig out and lay the patio also build the walls, put up the fence, lay the turf and set out the planting, so the levels, falls and finishes all meet properly where they join.

A patio is only as good as what is underneath it. We dig out to the right depth, lay and compact a hardcore sub-base, then bed every slab fully on mortar, not on five dabs, with a fall that carries rainwater away from the house. That is the part you never see, and it is the reason a patio stays flat.

On top, the choice is yours. Riven Indian sandstone in mixed buffs and greys suits older Norwich houses and cottage gardens. Porcelain gives a sharp, even finish that barely marks. We also lay slate, limestone and concrete slabs, and finish edges in block, brick or granite setts. Curves, circles, steps and raised patios are all part of the same work.

A driveway carries far more weight than a patio, so it needs a deeper base, stronger edges and somewhere for the rain to go. We lay block paving and slabbed driveways with edge restraints set in concrete, and we plan the drainage first, because a front garden that sheds water onto the road can need planning permission.

Paths get the same care on a smaller scale. We lay side paths and garden paths in paving, setts and gravel, and we re-lay the tiled front paths that suit Norwich’s Victorian and Edwardian terraces, in chequerboard tiles with a proper border.

A fence fails at the posts long before the boards give out. We set posts at the right depth in concrete, use gravel boards to keep the timber off wet ground, and build closeboard fencing on site so that it follows a slope instead of stepping awkwardly down it.

We put up closeboard and panel fencing on timber or concrete posts, composite fencing that needs no painting, woven willow and hazel screens, slatted screening and post and rail fencing for paddocks and field boundaries. Gates are made to fit the opening, hung on posts that will not drop.

A new lawn is mostly preparation. We strip out the old grass and weeds, break up compacted ground, bring the levels right and rake in fresh topsoil before a single roll of turf goes down. Turf laid on tired, lumpy ground looks good for a month and then shows every dip.

Artificial grass suits small or shaded gardens, and anyone who would rather not mow. It needs a firm base of compacted stone and sharp sand with a weed membrane, and solid edges to fix to, or it will ripple and sink. We build that base properly, so the lawn stays flat and drains after rain.

Brickwork is where our trade started. Alex holds an NVQ Level 2 in bricklaying, and it shows in the parts of a garden that have to be built, not just laid: retaining walls that hold a bank back, the low wall round a raised patio, brick steps, piers, and the dwarf walls under greenhouses and garden rooms.

A retaining wall holds back a great deal of weight, so it gets a proper concrete footing, the right thickness for its height, and drainage behind it so that water cannot build up. We build in brick, block, stone and render, and face or cap walls to match the house or the paving.

Timber sleepers are one of the most useful things in a garden. Stood on end they make a curved raised bed. Laid flat and fixed together they hold back a slope, form a flight of steps or frame a lawn. We use new softwood and oak sleepers, and reclaimed ones where the look suits, fixed with long structural screws and backed with a membrane.

Alex also holds a City & Guilds Level 2 in carpentry, so decking, pergolas, sheds and timber garden buildings are built by someone trained to do it. Decking goes on a treated frame held off the ground, with gaps for water and air, so that it dries out between showers.

The first half of our name matters as much as the second. Alongside landscaping we take on general building work: extensions, garages, garden buildings and the brickwork, groundwork and drainage that go with them.

Having one firm for the building and the garden saves the usual gap between trades. The ground an extension leaves behind is rarely pretty, so we can build it and then put the garden back around it: new patio levels to meet the new doors, steps where the floor height has changed, and drainage that takes account of both.