Landscaping & Garden Makeovers in Trowbridge

What a makeover usually involves

Most makeovers start with a garden clearance, then work through the hard landscaping before anything soft goes in: levels and steps, paths and patios, fencing, raised beds and edging, then turf or planting last. Doing it in that order means the new lawn is not trampled by the building work. One customer's review describes a garden transformed in four days of solid work by two people.

The gallery shows the range: an overgrown garden turned into fenced sleeper beds around a decked summerhouse, an old rockery broken out and rebuilt as raised sleeper beds, full borders dressed in red slate with a curved brick lawn edge, and a gravel path with sleeper risers running up a wooded bank.

Working with clay ground

Much of the low ground around Trowbridge and the River Biss valley is heavy clay. Clay is usually fertile, but it drains slowly and stays cold in spring, so lawns waterlog and borders sulk. Raised beds are one of the most practical answers, because they can be filled with a free-draining mix. The RHS recommends beds at least 45cm deep for shrubs and fruit, and no wider than about 1.5m so you can reach the middle. Old creosote-treated railway sleepers should not be used in gardens. See the guide to raised sleeper beds on clay soil.

Turf and timing

The RHS says turf is best laid in mid-autumn and can go down until early spring, avoiding hot summer weather and frozen or waterlogged ground. The soil should be dug or rotavated to 20 to 25cm first, and new turf can usually be mown on a high setting about three weeks after laying. Whether real turf or artificial grass suits you is covered in the turf or artificial grass guide.

Once a garden is finished, regular garden maintenance keeps it that way. Landscaping work is carried out across Trowbridge, Bradford-on-Avon, Melksham and Westbury.