Talk
Call Jake. Town, what is wrong, and whether it is a design, a drive, a tree or a tidy.
Elstree · Hertfordshire
Gardens, built to be lived in.
Design, hard landscaping, grounds maintenance and tree surgery for homes, commercial sites and public clients. Jake McGrath runs the practice from Elstree Hill South. The job starts with a conversation and ends when the site is swept.
The practice
From the first visit to the last sweep.
Hertfordshire Garden Landscapes designs and builds outside spaces for residential, commercial and public-sector clients. Projects have ranged from modest ponds and water features to rooftop gardens and corporate landscaping.
The standard is personal and specific. Any size, a budget you are honest about, and a layout you will still want in five years. The portfolio is a sample of garden design and hard landscaping around the county, not a catalogue of everything the team has touched.
Services
Five ways we are usually asked to help.
Garden design
Low maintenance garden design
Family gardens, courtyards, and formal or informal layouts that you can actually look after.
Hard landscaping
Hard landscaping
Driveways, patios, walls, fences, decking and ponds, from a short alley to a steep front drive.
Maintenance
Estate and grounds maintenance
Regular gardens and grounds for homes, offices, hotels, schools, colleges and housing associations.
Tree surgery
Tree surgery
Felling, reductions, pruning and stump removal by arborists who hold current certificates.
Digger hire
Mini digger and dumper hire
Machines with a driver, or machines only, for excavation, demolition spoil and muck-away.
How a job runs
One team, from the sketch to the clear-up.
Design
A layout matched to how you use the garden and how much time you will give it.
Build
Hard and soft landscaping by the same crew, with a digger on site when the ground needs it.
Stay, if you want
Some gardens move onto a monthly maintenance round once the build is finished.
Portfolio
Before and after, from the existing site.
Every photograph here is a project already published by the practice.
Alley way paving
A narrow side passage relaid in block and slab so it reads as a path, not a gap.
Mrs Antony’s back garden
A wasteland in Hertford turned into lawn, paving, gravel and a working end to the garden.
Patio and garden, Potters Bar
A gloomy Potters Bar garden opened up with a feature patio, new paths and a lighter boundary.
Sandstone driveway, Borehamwood
An old tarmac drive in Borehamwood taken up and relaid in sandstone paving.
Areas
Hertfordshire, from the hill at Elstree.
Guides
Notes for anyone planning a Hertfordshire garden.
6 min read
Low maintenance gardens on Hertfordshire clay
How to plan a Hertfordshire garden you can look after: clay soil, lawn, paving and the jobs worth doing once rather than every weekend.
7 min read
Choosing a driveway in Hertfordshire: tarmac, blocks or sandstone
What we have learned replacing Hertfordshire drives in Hemel Hempstead, Borehamwood and Radlett, including levels, edges and front-garden drainage.
6 min read
When to call a tree surgeon in Hertfordshire
A practical guide to felling, pruning and stumps in Hertfordshire: seasons, nests, and which council to ask about a protected tree.
Questions
Before you call.
Where do you work?
Across Hertfordshire, from the yard at Edgware Bury House Farm on Elstree Hill South. Published work includes Elstree’s neighbours — Borehamwood, Radlett, Potters Bar — and jobs further out in St Albans, Hemel Hempstead, Hertford and Stevenage.
Who runs Hertfordshire Garden Landscapes?
Jake McGrath. He is the person you speak to at the start, and the practice is built around that conversation rather than a call centre.
Do you take small gardens?
Yes. The portfolio includes a paved alley and a side courtyard as well as whole back gardens and long drives. The brief matters more than the square metres.
Can I hire a digger with a driver?
Yes. Mini digger and dumper hire is available with a driver or as machines only, for excavation, demolition spoil and muck-away.