What we do
Garden design, and everything it takes to build it.
From Matt's own garden designs — or building beautifully for your designer — through walls, steps, driveways, patios, fencing, planting and pools. One owner-led team carries the whole garden across Harpenden and Hertfordshire, with twenty years' experience behind every job.
01Service
Garden design
A garden works when every part of it belongs to the same idea. Matt develops his own designs — thinking through how you move through the space, where the light falls, what to screen and what to frame — and he also builds for other garden designers, translating a drawing into a real, buildable garden. Where you've already had plans drawn up, he'll often suggest refinements; as one client wrote, 'Matt suggested some great ideas to improve the plans I'd had drawn up — these improved the overall look and design.' Twenty years of doing both the designing and the building is what lets him see, at the sketch stage, what will actually work on the ground.
02Service
Garden walls, steps & raised planters
The structural elements are what turn a flat plot into a garden with rooms, levels and places to sit. We build garden walls, steps, raised planters and built-in seating — laid true, tied into the patios and paths they border, and detailed so they read as part of one scheme rather than separate add-ons. Clients repeatedly single out the attention to detail here: it is the smaller, considered elements that make a garden feel designed rather than simply landscaped.
03Service
Driveways & resin
A driveway takes more punishment than any surface on the property, so the base under it matters more than the finish on top. We excavate and consolidate properly, then lay block paving, gravel or resin — carefully edged, set to drain and finished cleanly. Our resin driveways in particular draw unprompted reviews: 'after five months of enjoying our fantastic new resin driveway laid by Matt and his team I just had to! All was professionally managed and directed from the initial query to quote to explanation of the process.'
04Service
Patios, paths & decking
Patios, paths and decking set the frame for how a garden is used, so they have to sit level, drain properly and lead the eye where you want it to go. We lay Indian sandstone, porcelain and natural paving to falls with clean edges and neat joints, run paths that connect the garden as one journey, and frame timber or composite decking on properly set posts. Built to look good and stay put through Hertfordshire winters, not to lift and rock after the first frost.
05Service
Fencing
Boundaries frame how a garden looks and feels, and a well-set fence line is often the quickest way to smarten a whole plot. We install closeboard, panel and bespoke fencing — posts set firm so they hold, lines run straight, and the style chosen to suit the property and to sit comfortably with the planting in front of it. Clients note we leave the garden clean and tidy at the end of the day, fencing days included.
06Service
Soft landscaping — lawn & planting
Soft landscaping is what turns a hard shell into a garden. We prepare and level the ground before laying quality natural turf so it roots evenly, and we plant beds and borders that suit the aspect and the soil — chosen so the garden reads as one design rather than a paved space waiting to be filled. It's the planting that clients' friends notice: as one put it, 'we've had lots of compliments on the work they have done.'
07Service
Pool surrounds & renovation
A pool is only as good as the setting around it. We build and renovate pool surrounds — resin, natural stone and paving laid to drain and detailed to sit comfortably with the planting and the terrace — and take on the renovation of tired, dated pools so they become the centrepiece of the garden again rather than something to work around. Laid with the same care for levels and finish as everything else we build.
Materials & finishes
Chosen to last, not just to look good on day one.
A good garden is as much about the base you don't see as the surface you do. Here is what Matt tends to reach for, and why.
Natural stone & porcelain
Indian sandstone, porcelain and natural paving for patios and paths — laid to falls so water runs off, with clean edges and neat joints that sit level through Hertfordshire winters.
Block, gravel & resin drives
Block paving to lift and re-lay if services need access, gravel for cost and permeability, and the resin-bound drives our clients most often review — all set on a base excavated and consolidated properly first.
Brick, stone & timber structure
Garden walls, steps, raised planters and built-in seats in brick and stone, and decking framed on properly set posts — the structure that gives a garden its rooms, levels and places to sit.
Turf & planting to finish
Quality natural turf laid on prepared ground, and beds and borders planted to suit the aspect and soil — so the finished garden reads as one considered design, not a hard shell waiting to be filled.
How it works
Consultation, build, planting.
01
Consultation & design
Matt comes out, walks the space with you, and talks through how you want to use the garden — where the sun falls, how you'll move through it, what needs screening and what deserves to be seen. He develops his own designs, and where you've already had plans drawn up he'll often suggest refinements: as one client put it, 'Matt suggested some great ideas to improve the plans I'd had drawn up.' Then a clear, no-obligation quote.
02
Groundwork & build
One team carries the build — the walls, steps, driveway, patio, fencing and decking — with the base and levels set properly before any finish goes down. Clients single out how professionally the work is managed: 'all was professionally managed and directed from the initial query to quote to explanation of the process, and then the careful and tidy excavations to the final lay and finish.' Kept clean and tidy at the end of every day.
03
Planting & handover
Soft landscaping ties the scheme together — lawns laid and beds planted so the garden reads as one design, not a hard shell waiting to be filled. We walk the finished garden with you and leave it clean and tidy. Clients tell us they get 'lots of compliments on the work' afterwards — the mark of a garden built to be lived in and enjoyed for years.
Before you call
Questions we're asked most.
Do you charge for a consultation or quote?
No. Matt comes out, walks the garden with you, and puts a clear, no-obligation quote to it — whether it's a single patio or a full design and build. Clients describe the whole process, from initial query to quote, as professionally managed, with no pressure to go ahead.
Do you design gardens yourselves, or only build?
Both. Matt develops his own designs and also builds for other garden designers. Where you've had plans drawn up already, he'll often suggest refinements — one client wrote that his ideas 'improved the overall look and design.' Twenty years of doing both is what lets him see early what will work on the ground.
Who will actually be on my project?
Matt. This is a genuinely owner-led firm — he's across the work from the first site visit to the final planted border, with his own team on the build. It's why every one of our thirty-seven five-star Google reviews names him personally.
Will you keep the site tidy while you work?
Yes — clients single this out repeatedly, describing the garden 'left clean and tidy at the end of the day' and the space 'kept tidy at the end of every day.' Careful, tidy excavations and a clean handover are simply how Matt works.
Do I need planning permission for my garden works?
For most domestic garden work you won't. Some cases do need consent — tall boundary walls, conservation areas, or a driveway that doesn't drain to a permeable surface. If yours is one of those, Matt will flag it at the quote stage so it's handled up front.
What materials do you work with?
Indian sandstone, porcelain and natural paving; block paving, gravel and resin for drives; brick and stone for walls, steps and planters; timber and composite decking; closeboard, panel and bespoke fencing; and quality turf and planting for the soft landscaping. Matt talks through what suits your home and budget.
Not sure where to start?
That's what the free consultation is for. Matt will walk the garden with you, talk through the options honestly, and put a clear, no-obligation quote to it.