12 Jun Garden Makeover in Danbury

In this week’s blog we’re showcasing a recent garden makeover in Danbury, Essex.

This was a fantastic project to work on. A spacious plot with good access is the dream of every professional landscape builder and this one fitted the bill beautifully.

We did meet a couple of challenges along the way and the weather wasn’t always on our side but as usual, the Holland Landscape team did a sterling job.

The Client Brief

Karen Chamberlain, a well-known garden designer from Colchester invited Holland Landscapes to bring her design to life.

Once the quotes and the schedule of works was agreed, Holland Landscapes was appointed as Principal Contractor responsible for compliance with CDM 2015 regulations

 January 2018: Garden Clearance Begins

Clearing away unwanted plants, replacing part of the boundary fence and removing existing patio slabs and decking.

With existing hard landscaping – including the sub-bases – cleared, we had an almost blank canvas to start work on the garden makeover.

February 1st: Clearance work revealed an unexpected glitch with the drainage so we excavated a new soakaway and rerouted the pipe from a downpipe.

At this stage in the garden makeover the priority for the team was to build all of the sub-bases for new patios and paths.

The team bought in machinery to excavate the footings for the rendered wall seen here to the left of the traffic cone.

Now that the sub-bases are almost done, work is not affected by a light dusting of snow.

Late February and progress is good

February 22nd. The wall is built and ready to be rendered. This forms two sides of a seating area which will be beneath a contemporary sun canopy.

The guys look a bit chilly – just one of the hazards of working as a landscaper in Britain. In four or five months-time they’ll be slapping on the suncream and trying to cope with the heat (hopefully!)

Very pleased with how the circular patio is coming on

They guys at Holland Landscapes really do take pride in their work. This brick paving is laid with ultimate precision. It’s probably not something that the client will notice, but believe me, if those bricks were just slightly out of alignment the whole thing would look awful.

10 weeks into the garden makeover and it’s looking good

March 23rd. The hard landscaping is almost finished. This is the part when a garden makeover really begins to show its full potential. These porcelain slabs from Stonemarket have been cut and laid with the greatest of care. It’s not easy to make squares fit into a circle!

The wall has been rendered and the canopy for the outdoor eating area is in place. Ignore those bumpers on the legs – they are there to protect the structure while we’re working.

Landscaping is probably one of the most diverse careers there can be. So far in this project we’ve been using a whole range of skills in all sorts of different weather and we’ve not even started on the plants yet

• Understanding a plan, knowing what the work will entail and quoting accordingly
• Project management – with lots of emphasis on Health and Safety
• Sourcing products
• Garden clearance
• Fencing
• Transporting and using a wide range of machinery
• Correcting drainage problems
• Digging footings
• Paving
• Brickweave
• Rendering
• Assembling a canopy

April and work is almost finished

Just when things were looking good, we go and make another big mess. This is the fun part of a garden makeover – preparing for planting. We can really see the potential now.

The finished garden makeover

This is why we enjoy working in winter. Yes, any landscape builder will tell you that he or she would rather not be bundled up in hats and gloves. But physical work on a hot day is very tiring so we’d rather be too cold than too hot. But most of all, this client’s garden is going to be THE perfect place to relax and entertain during the summer months.  What do you think?

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Need a garden makeover of your own? Contact us today