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Excellent job done would recommend
Robert
James was responsive to our request for a quote, for felling a large ash tree we suspected had died. He replied to messages quickly, turned up when he said he would, and was correct that our tree had in fact died. James was professional the whole time and we would have no hesitation in hiring and recommending him to others in the future.
Joanne
Excellent service. Hard working, polite, professional team. Lovely job. Would recommend.
Anne
Below you’ll find information to help you understand the different elements of garden design and the key things to be aware of before you start transforming your outside space. Find some initial ideas to talk through with a garden designer, including making the most of a small garden.
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Garden Design Services
What does garden design involve?
Garden design is about more than mowing a lawn and putting a couple of plants in the ground. A good design takes into account a few key elements:
- How you want to use the space.
- The amount of light the garden receives, and at what times of the day.
- The quality of your soil.
For example, you won’t want to put a shed in the best spot for catching a bit of sun, or have a patio that’s entirely in the shade.
A garden designer will help you make the most of the available space, no matter how big or small. They’ll also establish how keen a gardener you are to make sure the finished garden is either easy to maintain, or gives you something to get your teeth into – if you’re the green-fingered type.
Cost of garden design work
The cost of the work will depend on what you’re having done and the size of your garden, but prices tend to start at around £200. A good garden designer will discuss what you want to get out of your garden and ask you about your budget before coming up with ideas.
Low maintenance garden ideas
- You can stop a garden from looking untidy by dividing it into small sections. Plants, hedges, low walls and raised beds give a sense of order. Paths made from wood chips, slabs or bark help prevent weeds.
- Growing plants at different heights can give the illusion of there being more than there are, so you get the look of a fuller garden, with fewer plants to keep healthy. Shrubs, herbs and verbena are low maintenance plant options for adding colour.
- Rockeries and water features don’t need much looking after. Avoid shallow water features to save needing to top them up when they dry out. If you’d like a pond, avoid getting fish as the pH balance of the water settles naturally without them, giving you fewer algae problems so less cleaning time.
- To save cutting the lawn, artificial turf could be your best friend but if you want the real thing and don’t mind doing a little cutting every now and again, slow growing or drought resistant turf could be better options.
Ideas for small gardens
- To create more space, choose similar flooring to the inside of your home when picking the outside tiling.
- Divide a garden into different sections and add diagonal or winding paths. Extending the time it takes to get from one side of the garden to the other will make it feel bigger.
- Laying pavers at an angle to the property instead of parallel will draw the eye across the garden and extend the space.
- Attaching foliaged climbers to wires across areas of your garden will give it an extra dimension.
- Think about growing upwards rather than outwards with a trellis attached to your fence, or a vertical wall made up of climbers, grasses and ferns. A green wall can also help you lower your energy bills through providing more insulation and reducing the amount of heat that’s lost through the wall of your home. When it comes to choosing other plants, pick types that grow upwards like sweet peas and black-eyed susans so they take up less room.
Planning permission for garden design jobs
Planning permission only comes into play when you’re building or installing decking, fences, walls and gates. You’ll need to apply for planning permission if:
- The decking would be higher than 30cm above the ground.
- The decking or other raised platforms would cover more than half of the total area of the garden.
- A fence, gate or wall would be over 2 metres high, or over 1 metre high near a highway that’s used by vehicles (or a footpath next to the highway).
- The fence, gate or wall would form a boundary with a listed building or land.
If you live in a listed building or you have a front garden that you want to pave over, you should check with your Local Planning Authority as different rules may apply.
Insurance for garden design work
While it’s not a legal requirement, it’s a good idea for all garden designers to have public liability insurance so they’re covered for personal injuries or accidental damage to a property.
Questions you should ask your garden designer
- How long have they been working as a garden designer for?
- Can they show you examples of work they’ve carried out?
- Can they give you a scaled design of what the finished garden will look like?
- Do they have public liability insurance and what does this cover?
- Will they give a guarantee for the work and how long does this last? Are there separate guarantees for different plants?
- Does the quote for the work include waste disposal? If not, check with your local council how you would go about getting it taken away.
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good and professional quality jobs
Very satisfied with the job. Quickly done to a high standard.
we are a small family business. l my self have 30 years of experience. it's the small things that make the big difference.
Good communication and could do the job quickly and to suit me. Recommended.
I all ways wanted to be a bricklayer just like my farther so he sent me to college witch I did for two years learning the trade then worked for various companies gaining my experience giving me the opportunity to working with other trades witch I started to learn witch gave me more confidence to work for myself so I could provide a good customer service with the reliability and attention to detail with the 33 + years in the trade.
5 star! Quick response to advert, & quote. Arrived on time, did a great job & cleaned up afterwards. Definitely use again.
Welcome to Greenway Gardens We are a friendly, reliable and professional organisation working in the field of Arboriculture. We offer a full range of services & consultation for Tree & Garden Maintenance at a competitive price. Fully Qualified & Insured.
Great service again thank you so much Sam, tree looks great and we'll definitely be using you again and recommending you to our friends and family. Thank you
Dg building and landscapes is a small company with a large amount of experience. We are qualified and experienced in all types of landscaping and general buidling work, with over 20 years experience. Give us a try for a quality service at an affordable price. We now accept all major credit and debit cards.
oakleaf landscapes offers a wide range of services including .trees topped and felled. Hedge cutting. Fencing replaced or repaired all types of slab work. Patios paths etc gravel high pressure cleaning all work done to your satisfaction.
Good job done
I am hard working, polite, reliable and honest young man who has worked in construction for many years and have worked for some well known companies over the years such as C3 constuction, rock civilis engenering, SNI construction and Palmers conservatories. I do work such as bricklaying, roofing, slabbing, gutters, sofit and facias, drains, fencing, concreting, painting and decorating and much more. Just call for free friendly quote or advice.
Did a very good job, pleased with it. Polite and friendly tradesperson. Would recommend.
McGinleys Services has over 25 years of experience in commercial and residential Landscape and building maintenance within the Berkshire area. We can help you maintain your property or help you create your dream landscaped garden.
Hi im Joe, a general maintenance man from J.A Maintenance. Im qualified and competent in many roles including electrical installation, tiling, brickwork, gardening and lanscaping and all aspects of home/property maintenance.
Joe was professional and treated our home with respect, we are very happy with the outcome of the work and pleased with the outcome, would recommend Joe to anyone who needs assistance.
Hello. My name is Remus Petelenciuc and my profession is handyman, this includes carpentry, drywall, flooring, kitchen and bathroom remodeling, painting, roofing, and windows and doors. I save people's life using my skills and tool's, so that my costumers don't have to worry about geting home after work and find a mess.You can sit down and relax wail i do the job. Why me? Why am I different from others? I have 20 year construction experience,more then 100 house's build from bottom to top, can give you a free quote for different jobs you need to be done. You have my business card here. If you want, give me your business card and I'll send you an email or a text to see when we meet up to fix your problems. King Regards Remus
Remus and Ionut were outstanding! In under two weeks, they refurbished two bathrooms, fitted a kitchen island, built wardrobes, installed appliances, painted, and more, always with a smile and no excuses. Even when I added extra tasks, they simply said, “No problem” and got it done. True professionals with an incredible work ethic. I’ve recommended them to everyone and will only use them in the future.
I specialise in restoring overgrown gardens and planting up new ones. I am proudly pro-wildlife and happy to advise on bees/ butterflies/ birds for example: planting a fruit tree or putting in a pond. I can tell you what grows where, and why. I have worked in London for nearly 30 years.
Excellent and friendly service. Would recommend :)
Landscape gardener
Kieran and his team did an excellent job renovating our unloved and overgrown back garden into a contemporary, stylish haven. It’s now beautifully paved, with gorgeous steps, flower beds, and fencing. The team worked incredibly hard in all weathers and were friendly and polite throughout. They did such a great job that we’re getting them back next year for another project! Highly recommend.
Home and Property Maintenance Patios/Fencing Block Paving Guttering/Fascia Pressure Washing Waste Removal All General Ground Work
This is the 2nd job David has done for me. The best quote and an excellent job. No hesitation in recommending him.
A family run property development and maintenance company. Specialising in floor fitting, general joinery - doors/skirting, bespoke exterior yard doors and gates, fencing & decking & much more. We have time served plumbers and electricians waiting to service your property. The customer experience is important to us, our integrity and reliability is built and maintained by the positive experiences of our customers, please take a minute to browse our reviews! The following points encompass the ethos of Hamel Homes LTD • Customer focused. • Advice is given to benefit the customer. • We only use quality materials locally sourced when possible. • Friendly & reliable from quotation to follow up visit. • Professional and safe. • Work carried out with the minimum fuss to customer, all excess material and waste removed when possible. • We enjoy our work - it makes a difference. Frank Cacciapuoti Company Director
Very satisfied with the work. would definitely hire again.
Specialist in all aspects of Groundworks/civils. Well established business with over 50 years combined experience with groundworks, civils and building. We own and operate our own machines and equipment. All operators are NPORS/CPCS ticketed and trained to high standards, this enables us to be properly insured and have correct health and safety in place.
Great to deal with, very knowledgeable and did a cracking job. Highly recommended - will use again for sure if I need anything else doing.
We are a family run business specializing in various types of gardening/landscaping/tree/property maintenance services/roofing, lawn care, garden designing, pressure washing, patios, driveways and much more. Please contact us for more in depth information and advice or for a no obligation quotation.
We used Kingz for clearance of a very overgrown garden and new fencing. They did exactly what they said they would do in their quote. They worked hard, left the garden tidy, and took away all the waste. They were very pleasant and Emma, in particular, gave good advice regarding ongoing after care of the garden. We were very happy with the results and would definitely recommend this family team!
26yrs in trade installations rewires fult finding lighing sockets testing & inspection cooker showers no call out all work guaranteed fully insured domestic & commercial work reliable competative rates call today 24 hr call out free quotation 2 m insure
Need a hand? Someone friendly, reliable and cost-effective? We are Able4you !
Dumitru and his team did a really good job. They were well organised and left everything neat and tidy.
Trading as intrendbuilders and tesscon co uk search us on google We are a friendly, hard working & affordable company who specialise in All forms of roofing and general building, maintenance, fencing and landscaping, waste removal, end of tenancy property clearances, wooden & laminate flooring and more in all areas of Birmingham & surrounding areas.
Richard and his team did a great job of replacing our garden gazebo roof. Pete and the lads who worked at the property were professional and courteous throughout and I’d have no hesitation in recommending them.
We are a reliable, trustworthy, friendly family run business. Do all types of landscaping services. Also tidy up garden sheds felt roofs paint e.t.c. can dispose of all waste.
William and his workmate, did an excellent job at making my garden secure. They put a strong gate up for me and I am very happy with the end result. I will definitely employ them again. Thank you
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