Complete Garden Transformation in Datchet

Hortlands were employed to transform the garden of a Victorian house near Windsor, that dates back to 1890. Our landscape team brought the garden back to life, giving it a polished modern finish.

Process

• Design – The garden was designed in phases as the project developed, we started with the large front flowerbed and worked on from there.
• Clearance – The whole space was cut back and cleared, using a range of machines to make the whole process as efficient as possible.
• Hard Landscaping – After the front flowerbed was installed, we moved on to building the patio at the back of the house. A beautiful raised patio with a retaining wall the whole way around, made using porcelain tiles in colour ember sands.
• Driveway installation -the next task was to install a stylish new driveway. This was an essential part of the build as the current driveway was quite unsafe to use. It consisted of an ‘in’ and ‘out’ system leading onto a very busy main road. It was almost impossible to see oncoming traffic so had to be changed. We reconfigured it to just one much wider entrance, took up all the old tarmac, then laid golden pea shingle to finish. 30 metres of instant loral hedging was then installed to frame the drive way around the boundary of the property, alongside estate fencing for extra security. An automatic gate was then fitted at the final stages.
• Trees – 35 meters of Thuja trees were planted around the perimeter to create a privacy screen at 4 meters tall. Then two large Japanese blossom trees were planted in the front garden to stand alongside other mature trees already at the property
• Soft Landscaping – the back garden was turfed then the planting scheme was implemented throughout. The client worked with us when choosing the right plants for this modern cottage style garden as they had quite a specific look in mind. Soft pastel tones were used, with key plants such as nepeta, eryngium and hydrangea. Mulch was added to all the beds to finish.
• Irrigation – throughout the whole project automatic irrigation was installed at each stage. A Wi-Fi system was used that is controlled by the client via mobile phone and a local weather station.
• Maintenance – The finished garden is now fully maintained by our ground’s maintenance teams to the highest standard. This ensures the garden stays looking its best all year round.

Key Feature

A key feature to the design of this garden are the Tilia trees. Our team discovered a row of Tilia trees that were hidden under years of overgrown foliage and weeds. Due to the age of the property and the position the trees were planted, we believe they once formed an avenue leading to the house.

We cleared around them to reveal the trunks, then out sourced a tree surgeon to come in and reduce the crowns and maintain the clear stem. After the discovery of these beautiful trees the garden design was changed slightly to showcase them in the best way possible.