Garden Make-Over

Sections in this Article:

• Introduction
• Clearing and Preparation
• A Garden is Created
• Post-Mortem and Conclusions

Introduction

With Covid-19 still on the rampage and holidays cancelled, we'd spent more time in the garden than usual. We'd never been happy with the garden and with the kids now racing around, the low level wall that bordered the lawn at perfect trip height, accidents were common for all.

The patio itself showed its age with cracks appearing, a constant growth of weeds protruding and mould established in the stone. It looked very tired and in need of an update!

In March, as lockdown loomed, we decided to order a hot-tub (just like everyone else did apparently). We had a couple of months to prepare for its arrival [later increased as the order was delayed]. We decided now was the time to update garden...

There were many companies interested in updating our garden and over the next few weeks we received various visits from companies offering their services. To help, I drew some very rough sketches so we could firm up designs and talk about materials and prices. There was a large variation in our experience with these companies. Some showed no interest in the sketches and initial ideas, and simply preferred to work with us through the build. This made it exceptionally hard for them to provide estimates and costs; I believe this is a strategy they employ to keep charging throughout the build.

Eventually we settled on NESW Building Services, not the cheapest or most expensive, but certainly willing to listen and exchange ideas with us. Before we committed, we checked as many reviews as we could, mostly very positive about build quality but a few cautions on upselling and additional charges! This was something we decided to keep a close eye on!

Continue on reading to Clearing and Preparation...