Eleven people, one garden at a time
Two designers, a stone crew and a maintenance round. We have built
gardens across the Thames Valley, Surrey and Bath since 2011.
Who we buy from
02
Our success
Our work is judged three winters after handover, not on the day the
photographer leaves.
180
+
Gardens designed and built since 2011.
40
+
Gardens on a maintenance round every fortnight.
96
%
Of our work comes from referral or repeat clients.
26
Years our foreman has been laying stone.
03
Mission
How we work
Most of what makes a garden last is buried: the falls, the drainage,
the base under the stone and the soil the plants have to live in.
We spend the first three weeks on that, and it is why our gardens
still look like the drawing three winters later.
Survey first
Levels, drainage and a soil pit before a single line is drawn.
One team, one price
The people who drew it are the people who build it, at the price on the quote.
Peat-free and local
Peat-free compost, British-grown stock and stone from quarries we have visited.
04
Journey
We started in 2011 with one van, one mattock and a garden in Henley that needed three metres of fall taken out of it. Fifteen years later the answer has not changed much: survey the ground, draw it honestly, build it once, and come back in February to see whether it worked.
2011
A van and a mattock
Elena Marsh started drawing gardens for neighbours in Henley and building them at weekends.
2015
Our own stone crew
Desmond Ayela joined as foreman and we stopped subcontracting the walls and terraces.
2019
A second yard
The Surrey yard opened, and the maintenance round grew past twenty gardens.
2023
Bath and the west
A third yard at Batheaston, and eleven people between the drawing board and the barrow.
The people who turn up
Eleven of us: two designers, a five-person stone crew, three on the
maintenance round and one who answers the phone before anyone else is up.
06
FAQs
The questions we get asked on every first visit
What does a garden design cost?
A full design for an average back garden is £2,400 to £4,800, depending on the size and how much level change there is. That covers the survey, a measured layout, a planting plan and a written schedule you can build from or price elsewhere. The fee is fixed in writing before we start, and it comes off the build price if you go on to build with us.
Do you build the gardens you design?
Usually, and that is the point. Design, build, planting and maintenance all sit under one roof, so the person who drew the levels is the person standing in the trench when the ground turns out different. You can take the drawings elsewhere if you would rather, and some clients do.
How long does a garden take?
Design takes six to eight weeks from the first site visit to a signed plan. Build depends on the stonework: a courtyard is three to four weeks, a full back garden with retaining walls is ten to twelve. We give you a week-by-week programme with the quote and we tell you the day it slips.
When is the best time to start?
Design through the winter, build in late winter or early spring, plant while the ground is still damp. Gardens started in October are usually finished before the first spring the family gets to use them. We build through most of the year and stop only for hard frost.
