Our landscaping work across Woodley and Reading

Previous block paving in Lower Earley had seen better days. It was breaking up and lifting in places, so our client wanted it taken out and done properly. We stripped the old drive back and found a drain underneath that needed replacing, which nobody knew about until the blocks came up. Once that was sorted we laid the new drive in charcoal block paving with a light grey border band running the perimeter to give it a clean, smart finish. Sometimes a driveway doesn't need reinventing. It just needs doing right....

This one started with a bad situation. The previous landscaper had been let go halfway through because the work wasn't up to scratch, and the garden had been left in a real state. So before anything else, we had to earn the client's trust, which meant being straight with her about what needed doing and letting the work speak for itself. What started as a fix turned into a full garden overhaul. We laid new turf, put up close board fencing, built a patio and a separate seating area with a pergola, added raised beds with oak sleeper walls, laid a resin driveway, built a brick wall, put in steps, and sorted the drainage. Indian sandstone for the hard landscaping, oak sleepers throughout, and resin for the drive. The project kept growing as we went because the client could see what was possible and trusted us to guide it. That relationship is what made this one stand out....

This one's actually two jobs done a year apart for the same client in Crowthorne, which says a lot. The first time round, Rob wanted a low-maintenance garden, so we took up the old lawn, laid it to shingle, and put in a circular Indian sandstone patio using Raj stone. A year later he came back to us. There was a corner at the back where his hammock sat on rotten decking, and he wanted it shaped to tie in with the main patio we'd already built. We used Marshalls Perfecta smooth buff paving with Raj sets as a picture frame edge and charcoal high kerbs for the seating area. The tricky bit was access, the property sits on a private track so we couldn't get deliveries in the usual way, but we worked around it. Good to see the original garden still in full use and looking the part a year on....

A full back garden makeover in Woodley, stripping everything back to a clear base and building it up from scratch. The old garden was tired and needed a fresh start, so we ripped it all out and laid new hardwood decking with turfed areas and neatly edged borders throughout. One of the standout details on this one was a custom-built gate. 7ft tall but narrow, which isn't something you can buy off the shelf. We built it from scratch on site to fit the space properly. The finished result is a clean, modern garden that the client can actually use and enjoy....

This one was in Lower Earley, a decent sized back garden where the client wanted to open the whole thing up. The area down the side of the conservatory was a raised deck, and the rest was a patchwork of gravel and stepping stones. She wanted a modern look and everything brought onto one level so the space actually felt like one space. We stripped the lot out and started with a blank canvas, which is always the best bit of a job like this. Once the deck came up we found two manhole covers sat underneath that nobody had mentioned. Not the end of the world, but the kind of thing that needs working around properly if you want the finished patio to look right. We laid the whole area in Raj Indian sandstone, a colour I'd suggested because it sits nicely against the red brick of the house rather than fighting it. She was over the moon with it. Six months later we were back doing her driveway, which tells you everything really....

Down in Earley, our client had a scrappy bit of front garden sat next to the drive, mostly overgrown shrubbery with a patch of tired grass. She wanted it tidied up, low maintenance, and built strong enough that she could pull a car onto it when she needed the extra space. The birch was the first thing to deal with. It was sat right in the middle of the area, which meant it had to come out before we could do anything useful with the ground. Rather than lose it altogether, we dug it up and replanted it in the corner against the fence, where it softens the boundary and still earns its keep. Once that was clear we dug the area out properly and built a base capable of taking the weight of a car. A section of the original brick wall had seen better days, so we repaired it and matched the brickwork in so you can't see the join. The whole area got dressed in a black and white decorative stone, which lifts the look and ties in neatly with the charcoal kerb curving round from the drive. She was over the moon with it. Neat, modern, and a bit of a magic trick, a front garden that turns into a parking space when she needs one....

Over in Sonning Common, the client had a problem most dog owners will recognise. Their dog had worn the hedge line into a mud bath, tearing up and down it barking at anyone who walked past on the public footpath the other side. Every trip back into the house came with a set of muddy paws. What they needed was something that gave the dog his track without ruining the look of the garden. Paving or slabs would have felt harsh up against a winding hedge on uneven ground, so we went with resin bound instead. It contours with whatever's underneath it, which meant we could follow the natural line of the hedge rather than fight it. Finished result is a neat, durable path that genuinely feels like it belongs there. The dog's got his running strip, the hedge line's recovering, and no more muddy paws through the back door. Best bit for us was watching how cleanly the resin hugged the curve of the hedge once it was down....

Somewhere in the back of every landscaper's head there's a dream job. This was that one. A large, odd-shaped back garden that had been done about eight years earlier and was starting to look tired. The brief was to modernise everything, keep it low maintenance, and make sure it never needed doing again, without going overly modern and losing the character of the house. The catch was the koi. There was an existing pond in completely the wrong spot, sat in direct sunlight, and it needed moving before anything else could happen. The new one had to be up and running by a set date so the fish could be transferred across safely. So while most jobs start with groundwork, this one started with fish logistics. Everything else queued up behind the pond: built-in BBQ and pizza oven area, resin entrances, artificial grass, a sunken hot tub, and a bespoke pergola with a genuine thatched roof. We used different sized rocks throughout to create a hard, textured landscape, keeping lighter tones in line with the K-render on the house and going darker with anthracite resin and charcoal high kerbs to pick up the window frames. A black line border between the resin and kerbs on the lower level ties the whole thing together, and the close board fencing and trellis got painted black to match. The design got reworked at least three times during the build as new ideas came together on site. Everyone who sees it stops and stares. Family, neighbours, friends, even the delivery drivers....

The client had just bought extra land from his neighbour, nearly doubling the size of his garden. He had a clear idea of what he wanted: separate areas for different uses. Somewhere to sit and entertain, a planting area so he could give up his allotment, and a big stretch of lawn for the dog to run around on. We designed the whole garden around a 50-year-old apple tree that was already there, using it as the centrepiece. From the main patio, we created pathways leading out to raised oak planter beds with gravel around them for a natural feel. The ground was all over the place with different levels throughout, so there was a lot of groundwork needed before we could start building anything up. We used Indian sandstone fossil slabs for the patio, oak sleepers for the raised beds, and close board panel fencing with concrete gravel boards and posts to retain the new garden boundary. The best part was watching the client showing it off to his mates and neighbours afterwards. He's since added lighting around the beds, so it looks the part in the evenings too....

Our client was getting ready for a side extension on the house, which meant the garage had to come down. The problem was, everything that had been living in the garage for years still needed somewhere to go. She came to us wanting a shed big enough to take the lot. Nothing off the shelf was going to cut it for the size she needed, so we built it bespoke. We poured a concrete base first, then put up a 4x2 timber frame clad in tongue and groove, with OSB boards for the floor and roof and a high performance 4-layer felt system torched on top to keep it watertight for the long haul. This one was a bit of a milestone for us too. It was the first project my son worked on after joining the team, so I was on site guiding him through it start to finish. Not a bad one to cut your teeth on....