Our clients house and garden is situated East to West, the driveway is around 40 meters in length and the south side is shaded by a line of mature trees. Along the driveway, situated between the gravel and a very mossy lawn, was a very large overgrown border measuring 35 meters by 6 meters, the kind of size garden most city dwellers would be thrilled with! The main issues were obvious, the once ornamental yews were now blocking any winter light getting through to the lawn, the remaining shrubs had become leggy, and the overall upkeep of the border was unmanageable. It had to go. Having photographed the site, we worked on a design and created a visualisation of how it would look, which the client was thrilled with.

High House Case Study ~ Garden Renovation Jan/Feb 2025

We first removed the yews to get a better view of the space, and selected the shrubs that could be saved for replanting in the back garden. Then it was in with the digger to dig out the roots and grade the site before raking and removing any last debris. We then shredded and composited everything that we could. The plan was to extend the grass by 2.4 meters, so in order to get the heights right we brought in around 3 tons of top soil and built up the extension and fitted tanalised wooden edging. We then covered the old border with a weed control membrane and brought in 10 tons of wood chip as mulch.

Next it was onto the trees, and once again our friends at Barcham Nurseries in Soham were on hand to provide some stunning examples, so after an enjoyable tree shopping expedition, we hand picked five beautiful white multi-stem Himalayan Birch Trees (Betulis Utilis Jacquemontii). This option gave us the cover we wanted from the road, allows more light in than the Yews, as well as giving us the option to prune them into half standards at a later date should we wish. The trees were planted with mycorrhizal fungi to give them the best chance of quickly building a symbiotic relationship with good fungi in the soil. The winter is the perfect time to plant trees as they are dormant, so it’s the least stressful for them, and there’s plenty of water around, so you know they won’t dry out.

Whilst we were waiting for the weather to dry up a touch before completing the turfing, we turned our eyes to the driveway itself. The Magnolia poking out into the driveway at the end of the border was a stunning tree, but didn’t feel like a feature. The drive had previously been extended into the lawn allowing better access, but the border was still making it unusable. The solution was to reshape the borders' concrete edging so it created a spectacle of the tree, and mirrored its rounded sweeping shape. We then used a breathable weed membrane, and gravelled around the tree, allowing for better access and giving the garden a much better flow. The tree now shines!

As the drive is bordered by large deciduous trees, it has had years of leaf litter driven into the stones. Not only that but in the middle of the driveway, a nice grassy weed patch had taken hold which year on year was getting denser. And finally a number of shallow pot holes and dips had taken hold, so all in all it was looking pretty sad. The solution was to use our springtime harrow behind the Kubota compact tractor to really dig into the existing gravel that had been compressed. Once it was fluffed up nicely we jet washed it to clean the stones, and the result was fantastic. Given that a 50mm covering over the entire drive, just for material, would have cost £2000, it is an incredibly cost effective solution.

The final part was to finish the turfing, which as long as it’s not frosty is fine to lay, and with our warmer winters, very quickly takes hold. We gave everything a final rake over, and with the overall transformation only taking 3 weeks we are very proud to say that the client loved it!

Garden Landscaping