Landscape gardening portfolio

The client’s garden is to the rear of a small terraced house in central Guildford and had a narrow area next to the house of about 2.5mx 5.0m dropping down to a lower larger area of about 7.5m x 4.5m. Our client was keen to engage our recommended Designer and, through a number of meetings and discussions of design ideas, an imaginative, sleek design emerged combining hardwood decking with slate paving with raised planters, a large bench with storage beneath and an enclosed storage area serving a dual purpose of hiding ugly walling and drainage pipes. Old boundary fencing was renewed and trellis panels with climbers would provide a fresh backdrop to the seating area. Further decking boards were used as vertical cladding to complete the scheme, providing the client with a beautiful and relaxing area for his use and for entertaining

The client asked us to inspect a collapsed stone block retaining wall at their property in Dorking. Discussions then ensued for a number of weeks about the merits of re-building a stronger wall as opposed to designing and building a more functional, open but attractive front area. The existing drive was a short, straight, narrow and very steep old paved way to the car port and garage. Certainly not allowing for two cars to be moved in and out of the driveway independent of each other and requiring either a reversal off the road or a reversal up a steep slope, neither being easy. The client was keen to, as far as practical, to maintain the period style of the property in the use of building materials and all the new walling was built using stonework from the original walls. We prepared a number of design options for providing a larger driveway, together with construction costs for each alternative and these were discussed, as was the choice or driveway surface material. The client settled on a final design and had a preference for a gravel surface, however, given the quite steep gradients that would remain, and considering carefully, available methods of stabilisation, it was agreed that gravel was not a practical and economic solution. The client was not keen on block paving and settled for a coloured macadam surface. The final scheme provided a clean, open aspect to the frontage of the house and a practical solution to providing parking for the client and their visitors.

The client has a young family and they were keen on an outside area both for play and for entertaining at their house near Shere. The area to the side of their house had included a large shed, a heating oil tank, a small pond and rockery, paving and a lot of rubbish! The proposal was to demolish the shed and move any essential storage into the garage, the pond would be removed and the oil tank emptied, removed and replaced by a new tank to the front of the property. The work on the oil tanks would be undertaken by specialist contractors. We cleared the area near to the road for the new oil tank position and erected timber screening with a gate and a seating area behind new hedge planting. We laid Indian sandstone paving beside the house, removed a five bar gate, partly bricked in and rendered the opening and fitted a new full height solid timber gate. The client now has a sunny, safe, attractive and practical outdoor area.

The client has a good sized garden to the rear of the house in Dorking, including a decking area against the house. However, the lawn sloped quite severely away from the house which was impractical for a young family with play equipment, and made football challenging! The plan was to create two lawn levels divided by a sleeper retaining wall and steps, the upper area being a true level and the lower level retaining a gentle gradient. With a lot of ‘cutting & filling’ this was achieved, new turf was laid, new steps, balustrade and other improvements were made to the deck, new fencing was installed and new raised sleeper beds built. The result was not only a much nicer feel to the deck but also a far more family friendly lawn area.