The work starts with a conversation, not a drawing. Jake McGrath runs Hertfordshire Garden Landscapes, and the useful first step is a phone call on 01992 414 536 or 078 6224 5534. Tell him the town, what is wrong with the garden, and whether you are after a design, a driveway, a clear-up or a tree looked at. An informal chat is enough to know whether a visit is worth it.
What helps before the visit
You do not need a survey. It helps to know how you use the space: children, a dog, a table for six, a washing line, a drive that must take two cars. It helps to know what you are willing to look after. If the honest answer is half an hour a week, the design should assume that, which is why so many of the published gardens are low maintenance rather than elaborate.
A rough sense of budget saves everyone a scheme that was never going to be built. The practice takes on modest ponds and alley paving as well as larger drives and whole back gardens. Size is not the test. A clear brief is.
Design, then the build, then the sweep-up
The old site describes the service in one line, and it is still accurate: an initial consultation, the landscape design, and the job carried through to sweeping up at the end. Hard and soft landscaping are done by the same team, so the patio levels and the turf are not two firms arguing over a line on the ground.
On a build you should expect disruption. Mrs Antony’s Hertford garden, mid-project, was rubble, a digger and a skip-shaped mess. The after photograph is the point of the mess. Spoil leaves the site, machines are hired with a driver when the excavation needs them, and the finish includes the edges, the pointing and the clear-up, not a pile of offcuts by the gate.
Afterwards
Some clients stop there. Some, like Mr Mason in St Albans, ask for the garden to be maintained every month once it is finished. Tree work can be booked on its own, without a redesign, and so can a one-off clearance.
Your details stay with the practice. They are not passed on, sold or given to anyone else. If you would rather write than call, use the contact form or email info@hertfordshiregardeners.co.uk. Say the town in the message. It decides the diary more than almost anything else.