Full Garden Landscaping —
From Blank Plot to
Finished Outdoor Space.
Turfing, artificial grass, decking, sleepers, raised beds, pergolas, steps and complete garden makeovers — designed and built by a third-generation landscaping family. One team, one fixed price, one point of contact from survey to handover.
- 18 years' experience
- Checkatrade 10/10 (33+ reviews)
- Up to 10-year workmanship guarantee
- £2M Public & Employers' Liability
- Site visit usually within 2 days
What we build, who it's for, and why it's worth doing properly.
What it is
Full-scale landscaping: reshaping levels, building retaining walls and sleeper beds, laying turf or artificial grass, installing decking, building steps, planting borders and installing pergolas — either to our design or exactly to yours.
Who it's for
Homeowners who want the whole garden sorted in one project — not a patio this year and grass next. New-build owners inheriting bare mud, and long-term owners whose garden has crept out of shape after 10+ years.
When it's needed
After an extension leaves the garden churned up; when the family situation changes (kids need lawn, adult kids don't); when you're planning to sell within 12–18 months; or when you simply stop wanting to go out there.
Why professional install matters
A landscape isn't a shopping list of features — it's a system. Levels, drainage, sightlines and material choices all interact. Doing it in one coordinated project is faster, cheaper and looks planned rather than accreted. Our 4-person team plus James handles the whole job in-house.
What happens when the job is done cheaply — or left too long.
Piecemeal gardens rarely feel finished. Each individual bit — the patio here, the fence there, the lawn re-laid last spring — was probably fine on its own, but nothing lines up and nothing quite works. And every time you try to fix one thing, you disturb another.
Levels that fight the house
Gardens rising towards the house wall trap water and destroy render and DPC. Levels have to be designed, not just tolerated.
Turf that never establishes
Rolled turf over unprepared clay dies inside a summer. Roots have nowhere to go, and mowing turns it to mud.
Sleepers that rot in five years
Untreated softwood sleepers with no drainage behind them are firewood by year six. Grade, treatment and drainage all matter.
Common mistakes we're called out to fix:
- Laying artificial grass over compacted soil with no sub-base — pockets of standing water and a lawn that ripples in heat.
- Building sleeper retaining walls without proper drainage or geotextile behind them — hydrostatic pressure eventually pushes them out.
- Adding a pergola bolted to shallow slabs rather than concreted post supports — first winter storm and it's leaning.
- Ignoring the drainage strategy — where does the surface water actually go once the lawn is gone and there's more hard surface?
- Buying materials before the design is agreed — end up with the wrong quantities and mismatched batches.
A clear, staged system — so you always know what's next.
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1
Site visit & full brief
James walks the garden with you, listens to how you want to use the space, notes sun tracking, existing services and drainage, and takes measurements.
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2
Design or build-to-your-spec
Either we come back with a layout and material palette, or we build precisely to a plan you already have (garden designer, architect or your own sketch).
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3
Fixed written quote & schedule
One number for the whole job, itemised. Start date, order of works, likely completion date — all in writing before we start.
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4
Groundwork, structures & levels
Excavation, sleeper walls, sub-bases, drainage channels and step frames all built first. The unglamorous phase that determines whether the finished garden lasts.
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5
Surfaces, planting & features
Turf laid, artificial grass installed over prepared base, decking boards fixed, pergolas erected, planting completed. Everything that makes it feel finished.
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6
Full clean, walkaround & aftercare
Site cleared, everything pressure-cleaned, walkaround with you, watering and maintenance notes handed over in writing with your guarantee.
Specific outcomes — not vague promises.
One team, one project
No subbies, no gaps between trades. The same 4 people plus James are on site from day one to handover.
Realistic timelines, kept
Most full garden makeovers run 1–2 weeks depending on scope. You get a start date and an end date, and we stick to them.
Up to 10-year workmanship guarantee
Applies to hard landscaping (walls, decks, steps, patios). Turf and planting have their own establishment periods — we'll explain both.
Third-generation landscapers
James's father and grandfather were both landscapers. Real generational knowledge, not a franchise or a builder branching out.
Design service — advisory or build-to-your-plan
You choose: we design and build, or you bring the plan and we build to it. Both are priced fixed.
Trusted by commercial clients
Coastal & Country Holiday Parks have used us across their North East sites. If it holds up under holiday-park traffic, it'll hold up in your garden.
The detail most contractors won't put in writing.
Landscaping is where dozens of individual materials, structures and living plants have to work as one system. Here's how we approach the elements most projects touch.
Turfing
Prepared topsoil to 100mm depth, raked level, rolled turf butted tight and rolled again. Watered heavily for the first 2–3 weeks. Cultivar chosen for shade tolerance where relevant. Turf laid March–October establishes best; winter laying works but is slower.
Artificial grass
Full sub-base (compacted MOT Type 1, granite dust screed), weed membrane, artificial grass rolled and joined with adhesive tape rather than staples, seams brushed and edges pinned. Kiln-dried sand infill for pile support. See /services/artificial-grass for the full detail.
Decking
Softwood, hardwood or composite. Ground-contact-treated joists on concreted supports, minimum 150mm ventilation gap under the deck to prevent rot, boards fixed with corrosion-resistant screws. Composite lasts longest and never needs staining; hardwood ages beautifully; softwood is cheapest and needs an annual oil.
Sleepers, raised beds & retaining walls
Grade A green oak or pressure-treated softwood, drilled and threaded onto vertical rebar or through-bolted for structural retaining. Geotextile membrane and gravel drainage behind any wall retaining more than 300mm of soil. Timber life 15+ years with proper drainage; without drainage, half of that.
Steps, paths & garden features
Steps built on a supporting concrete base, not corbelled off adjacent slabs. Paths matched to the patio stone or contrasted deliberately. Pergolas either supplied and installed off-the-shelf (Rowlinson, Forest Garden) or custom-built in oak — always with concreted post supports, never bolted into paving.
Flower beds & planting
Excavation of poor soil, replacement with quality topsoil enriched with well-rotted compost, planting to a plan (or informal groupings if that's more your style). Weed membrane and bark mulch to suppress regrowth where hard surfaces meet borders. We're happy to work alongside your garden designer if you have one.
What we don't do
General gardening — weeding, hedge trimming, mowing rounds — is outside our remit. We're a project-based landscaping firm, not a maintenance service. We can recommend local maintenance gardeners once your project is finished.
A few we've finished — landscaping across the North East.
Real jobs, real customers. Drag the divider on the before/after images to see what was there before we started.
BeforeAfter
Frequently asked questions.
Ready for a landscaping that lasts?
Free site visit within a couple of days. Fixed written price shortly after — no deposit, no pressure, no ballpark guesswork. Backed by up to 10-year workmanship guarantee and £2M public liability insurance.
Mon–Sat, 7am–7pm • Yard 10, Wards Industrial Estate, Darlington DL1 2UQ