Landscaping

Award Winning Landscaping

Landscaping is an art in itself, and with our in-house award winning landscaping teams, dedicated project managers and state-of-the-art systems, we are in a unique position to fulfil any landscaping project. Whether you have used our RHS gold medal winning design team or are working with your own designer, we can take on projects of all sizes and co-ordinate with any stakeholders to get you the finished garden of your dreams.

Collaborative Construction

We regularly construct gardens for other top designers (including at RHS Chelsea) and therefore have broad experience of working with teams other than just our own – we can get on with anyone! Whether it is your builders, a main contractor, or third-party designers and project managers, we’re flexible to your requirements, deliver exceptional gardens and will always ensure our costs and deliverables are transparent throughout the project.

Partnerships

With 30 years of experience of creating exceptional landscapes we have developed an unrivalled range of professional partnerships, bringing expert advice, specialist products and skills. We constantly seek the best in art, water features, specimen trees, state of the art lighting and sound systems, travelling far and wide to seek new inspiration. Whether you are looking to incorporate a swimming pool, garden office, yoga studio, outdoor kitchen or even a lake, we know how to make it happen.

Construction Expertise

We have more than 30 years of hands-on construction experience. Working on over 800 landscaping projects in the UK and abroad, we bring a wealth of practical knowledge and methods to our clients. Our expertise in physical construction, complex and highly specialised large tree planting and soft landscaping is second to none. Furthermore, our in-house project managers and costing experts are skilled at value engineering to maximise our clients budgets without compromising on our award winning designs.

Project Management

Our design and project management office includes highly skilled dedicated project managers who work closely with our clients and the on-site teams to deliver the landscaping projects. They provide expert support on all areas of your build, from planning matters and tree protection, to running tenders, site management, design changes, materials sourcing and project co-ordination.

“Thank you so much for everything so happy that 6 years after designing the garden with you it has been completed & looks great. We are very happy with the garden. I also just wanted to say that you have a wonderful team. Danny is great and managed the project really well & Keith is a legend along with the rest of the team they have been an absolute pleasure.”

Client: Bijal Patani

FAQs

What will it cost to build my garden?Jo Fisher2024-07-10T09:28:14+01:00

What will it cost to build my garden?

We have several articles on this subject (see links below). The upshot is that we have a unique process aimed at heading this problem off at the pass!

Have a frank discussion about budget and process, sharing “ballparks” for similar projects (see cost to landscape article).
Once started, we design to suit your brief, cost that as soon as it is practical to do so, and allow for the time to value-engineer and adjust the designs to optimise the budget
Final outputs are prepared to suit the value-engineered design, and once this is complete, you are welcome to obtain quotes for the work from your choice of suppliers.

An overview of the design process is here and feel free to browse our “insights” pages for more information or call us for a chat!

Can I have just a bit of my garden done or do I have to do it all in one go?Jo Fisher2024-05-07T11:51:08+01:00

Can I have just a bit of my garden done or do I have to do it all in one go?

You can have whatever you want done at a time to suit you! However if you do have a larger schedule of works in mind it is worth discussing in detail with your landscapers as it may be more expensive to carry out in a particular order, or you may have to lift/destroy some of your completed works to carry out other works if not planned properly.

When is the best time to do landscaping?Jo Fisher2024-05-07T11:47:17+01:00

When is the best time to do landscaping?

Landscaping work can continue year-round, but is best planned to suit the individual site and project.

Some jobs simply cannot be done in frost or rain, and extensive groundworks are definitely best done when the ground is drier (especially if you are on a clay soil). Planting can come in at any time as long as the ground is not waterlogged or frozen but planting in a heatwave is best avoided if possible! Some larger planting (tree and hedging) can however only be obtained in winter.

Many clients would like to use their gardens in summer so may wish to avoid this time, and Christmas can be another time people wish to avoid if possible.

In short therefore, there are good reasons for doing different aspects of a job at different times across the year, and it is worth assessing for your specific project. We will almost always fall foul of one aspect that would be better done in other conditions, but that is part and parcel of landscaping.

Your web site looks expensive – are you?Jo Fisher2024-05-07T11:40:42+01:00

Your web site looks expensive – are you?

It’s a great question- we are delighted that our projects look so good!

CGLA are typically best value for design-led projects requiring a fully managed build. These often require integration of hard and soft landscaping and complex features or infrastructure such as outdoor kitchens, lighting, irrigation, firepits, pools and pergolas.

This is a different approach from a basic piece of hard landscaping replacement, for which we would indeed expect a local builder to be cheaper.

We will require a detailed design to be in place for all but the most obvious of works, as this is needed to provide accurate costings and a clear expectation for the client. The design does not need to be one created by our own in-house team, and we have had the pleasure of working with many top garden designers, including building Chelsea Gold Medal winning gardens for Marcus Barnett, Andy Sturgeon and Sarah Raven.

Whilst we at CGLA can and do take on smaller projects, particularly locally, these work best where the clients prioritise a high quality process and finish and value the wealth of expert advice available. This is a personal trade-off, and one we are happy to discuss in detail with prospective clients.

Should I use a garden designer or a landscaper?Jo Fisher2023-08-10T11:06:35+01:00

Should I use a garden designer or a landscaper?

You should use a specialist garden designer to design your garden and a landscaper to build it. We offer both of these services, but they are different skills and we have separate teams to deliver those services. There is an advantage in having the same company do both as the co-ordination is simplifies and the designer can remain in place to ensure the construction is as they envisaged, but this can be addressed with good communication and can work well either way.

If you have other questions feel free to contact us or see FAQS.