Landscaping · Reading & Berkshire
Full Garden
Transformations —
From the Ground Up
Most garden makeovers fail because the underlying levels, drainage and structure are wrong. We start with the bones — groundworks, walls, edges, drainage — then plant on top. The result lasts 20 years, not two.
5.0 average from verified Google reviews Fully insured · 18 years building in Berkshire
Recent work
A look at projects across Berkshire.
What we do
Landscaping done properly — the first time.
Full garden landscaping packages: patios, paths, retaining walls, steps, lawn levelling and re-laying, raised beds, planting schemes, lighting, water features and irrigation. We design and build the whole garden or work to your designer's plans.
Homeowners with a tired or unusable garden, anyone who has just finished a build and needs the outside reinstated, families wanting a safe and beautiful space for kids, and anyone preparing the property for sale.
After a build leaves the garden churned, when the lawn floods or won't grow, when you can't actually use the space because of slopes or levels, or when the garden is the next project after the house has been done.
Landscapers who only plant skip the groundworks; groundwork crews who plant treat it as an afterthought. We do both properly under one project — which is the only way a garden looks designed, drains properly, and still looks good in five years.
The cost of waiting
A garden built without bones falls apart the moment the weather turns.
What happens if it's ignored
- Lawns laid on compacted clay subsoil yellow and die within one summer — they need 100mm of decent topsoil minimum.
- Sloped gardens without proper retaining walls slump in heavy rain, taking your fence panels with them.
- Standing water across a lawn in winter is a drainage failure — the lawn turns to moss and weeds within 18 months.
- Planting straight into builder's rubble doesn't grow — and customers don't realise until a whole season's plants are dead in spring.
Mistakes we fix every month
- Spending big on plants before the levels, drainage and edges are sorted — within a year half of it is dead or struggling.
- Cheap timber raised beds rotting through in three winters because there's no liner and the contact face is sat in wet soil.
- Decking on undersized joists that bounce within two years — and rot within five.
- Skipping the lighting ducting at the build stage, then digging up a fresh garden a year later to retro-fit it.
Our process
A clear five-step system from first call to final handover.
- Step 1
Site Visit & Inspection
We come to you, measure up, photograph the site and listen properly to what you want from the landscaping.
- Step 2
Written Quote & Diagnosis
You get an itemised, fixed-price quote within 48 hours — labour, materials, timings and what's specifically excluded.
- Step 3
Schedule & Prepare
We agree a start date, order materials in advance and protect your home — dust sheets, walkways, skip placement.
- Step 4
Build & Communicate
Daily progress updates from your dedicated foreman. No subcontractor merry-go-round — you see the same faces every day.
- Step 5
Sign-Off & Handover
Final walk-around with you, snags fixed on the spot — we don't leave until you're happy with the finish.
What you get
Specific outcomes — not vague promises.
20-year garden bones
Walls, edges, patios and drainage built to last decades — the bones of the garden don't move, regardless of what you plant on top.
Drainage solved first
Garden drainage and levels designed before any soft landscaping — no soggy lawns, no slumping borders.
Future-proofed services
Lighting cables, irrigation pipes and ducting installed at the build stage — no digging up the garden again.
One project, one team
Hard and soft landscaping under one contract — no gaps between trades, no 'we don't do that bit' conversations.
Designed to be used
We think about how you'll actually live in the garden — barbecue lines, family seating, kids' play space, where the chairs catch the afternoon sun.
Disruption-controlled
Most full garden projects finish in 3–6 weeks with daily progress, materials staged off-site, and a clean handover.
The detail
Materials, methods and variations for landscaping in Reading.
Gardens in Reading, Newbury and Basingstoke span everything from compact Victorian terrace strips to sloping family gardens in Caversham and substantial country plots out toward Goring and Bucklebury. The right landscaping approach is dictated by aspect, soil, levels and how the garden will actually be used — not just what looks pretty in a brochure.
Materials we work with
- Paving (porcelain, sandstone, granite)
- 20mm porcelain for low maintenance, 22mm sandstone for warmer character, granite setts as borders and feature pathways. Fully bedded on Type 1 sub-base.
- Decking
- Composite (Trex, Millboard) on metal sub-frames for zero-maintenance decks; pressure-treated softwood or hardwood (iroko, balau) on adequately sized joists for traditional looks.
- Sleepers & raised beds
- Brand-new tanalised softwood sleepers or hardwood (oak, iroko) for raised beds; lined internally with butyl pond liner to extend timber life and protect plants from preservative leaching.
- Topsoil & turf
- Screened BS3882-compliant topsoil to 100mm minimum over a broken-up sub-grade. Turf from local Hampshire or Berkshire growers — laid within 24 hours of delivery.
- Retaining walls
- Engineered concrete block faced with brick or stone for permanent retention; gabion baskets or oak sleepers for less formal schemes.
- Lighting & power
- 12V LED garden lighting fed from an outdoor-rated transformer; ducted at sub-base stage so changes are easy later.
Methods & techniques
- Site clearance & levels
- Existing growth, rubbish and any failed surfaces cleared. Topographic levels taken so falls, terraces and walls can be designed before any digging.
- Drainage & sub-base
- Land drains where ground is waterlogged, soakaways for paved areas, geotextile under all hard surfacing, Type 1 sub-base compacted in layers.
- Retaining wall construction
- Concrete strip footing, reinforced block core, brick or stone facing, weep holes, geo-drained backfill — to a structural engineer's design over 1m high.
- Soft landscaping & turf
- Topsoil graded to falls, rolled lightly, turf laid in staggered bond rolled and watered. Planting beds prepared with compost and slow-release feed.
- Irrigation & lighting first-fix
- Drip-line irrigation and LV cabling installed before final topsoil and turf — invisible after handover, hassle-free for years.
Common variations & situations
- Full garden re-designs and rebuilds
- Sloped garden terracing with retaining walls
- Family-friendly gardens with safe play surfaces
- Outdoor entertaining areas with pergolas and lighting
- Front-garden planting schemes and parking integration
- Lawn re-laying with proper drainage
- Raised bed and kitchen garden schemes
- Decking and composite outdoor flooring
- Garden-room and outbuilding foundations and integration
- Pond, water feature and pool surround work
Residential vs commercial
We focus on residential landscaping. Occasionally we take on smaller commercial outdoor schemes — pub gardens, restaurants, school grounds — in the Reading and Newbury area where the design and structural standards we hold ourselves to are still appropriate.
Common questions
What homeowners in Reading ask before booking.
Related services
Often booked alongside landscaping
- Patios — Hard-wearing patios that frame your garden for the next twenty years.
- Fencing — Timber, composite and bespoke fencing built to last.
- Groundworks — Foundations, drainage and site prep — done right the first time.
Recent work
Recent landscaping projects across Reading & Berkshire.
Ready when you are
Get a fixed written quote for your landscaping — within 48 hours.
No high-pressure sales. No vague day rates. Just an itemised quote from a builder who's been on the tools for 18 years.
Fully insured 18 years on the tools Quote within 48 hours