Garden construction and landscaping
The build is where a garden is won or lost — levels, drainage, sub-bases and detail, done properly by our own team.
Conway Landscapes builds gardens — and only gardens. Since 2000 our construction teams have carried out the groundworks, drainage, stonework, carpentry and planting behind every scheme we design, from courtyard terraces in Bishop’s Stortford to two-acre plots in the Hertfordshire countryside.
One team from concept to completion means nothing is handed over, re-quoted or improvised. The person who designed your garden is on site while it is built.
Groundworks to last of the planting
Every build starts below what you will see: excavation to correct depths, MOT Type 1 sub-bases compacted in layers, land drains and falls set so water moves where it should — the difference between a terrace that lasts decades and one that starts to move in three winters. Our hard landscaping includes patios and terraces, driveways and entrances, retaining walls, steps and edgings in stone, brick and porcelain.
The soft side follows: soil improvement, specimen trees, hedging and planting schemes placed and planted by hand, with structures such as pergolas and garden rooms built in timber or steel.
One point of contact, on site
Each project has a lead who runs the site, the programme and the daily questions, so you are never chasing three trades. Materials are agreed with you before they are ordered; programme milestones are shared at the start and updated as the ground allows.
We are used to working in occupied homes — narrow access in Harlow’s new town streets, riverside plots in Ware, village lanes with no through-route — and we plan the logistics around your household.
The two things most gardens get wrong
Most garden failures are levels or water. Gardens built on the heavy clays of Essex and the Hertfordshire clay belts need real drainage design, not a few bags of gravel; slopes need steps and retaining built to stay put. We budget for both honestly, because there is no cosmetic fix later.
Do you build gardens other companies designed?
Rarely. Most problems we are asked to fix trace back to a designer and a builder who never met. Where we do take on an existing design, we review it for buildability and cost first.
How long does a garden build take?
A patio and planting project may run three to five weeks on site; a full garden rebuild of a good-sized plot is typically ten to sixteen weeks, weather permitting. We give a programme at quote stage.
Will the site be tidy while you work?
Yes. We board lawns we need to cross, keep materials in one agreed place, and leave the site swept at the end of each week.
What about access through the house?
We regularly work on gardens with no side access. Skips, barrow routes and floor protection are planned before day one and included in the price, not added to it.
Do you handle drainage and groundworks yourselves?
Yes — excavation, sub-base, land drains and levels are our own work, not subcontracted out. It is the part of the garden you will never see and the part we care about most.
Start your project
Arrange a design visit and we will walk the garden with you, listen to how you want to live in it, and set out what a design and build would involve.