Please think before you pave over your garden, however small it may be. And that includes laying artificial grass! The consequences for the environment are huge. The Earth has to breathe. The myriad organisms which surround us, microscopic, large and small, need somewhere to live. We are all interconnected and the disappearance of any one of these levels has a knock on effect on the others. The effects are for all of us to see. I’m not here to lecture you but please do inform yourself. David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg are great accessible starting points. All I can do is tell you about some of the responsible decisions we took throughout the Design and Installation process:

-First of all, we reduced the amount of waste sent to landfill by minimising the excavations required and by relocating and upcycling the old Victorian greenhouse.

-We put the Planting at the centre, literally and figuratively, of the design: the neglected brownfield site was transformed into a biodiverse environment, with dense, multi layered planting, attractive to pollinating insects, invertebrates, small mammals and birds

-We chose the hard landscaping materials for longevity, performance and sustainability: we avoided using concrete blockwork for the retaining walls; we used handmade bricks which were locally made and we sought timber which was was milled from fallen/diseased trees. The three materials develop a lovely patina over time and do not require further treatment, lasting a lifetime.

-Last but not least, we carefully considered the Water management: We specified a SuDS compliant installation for the brick terrace