Berkshire & the Thames Valley
From patios and groundwork to lawns and hedges. Built on proper foundations, finished cleanly, and done with organic methods wherever the job allows.
ReadingWindsorMaidenheadSloughBracknellWokinghamNewburyAscotHenley
No chemical shortcuts on planting, lawns or soil. Where a job genuinely needs something stronger, we tell you why before we use it.
Arisings composted or reused on site where we can. What leaves site is separated and disposed of properly.
The person who quotes the job is the person who runs it. No subcontracted surprises halfway through.
We work one county properly rather than three badly. Local soil, local drainage, local suppliers.
The structural side of a garden — the parts that hold everything else up. Done wrong, you pay twice. We build on proper foundations, get the falls right, and leave the site clean.
Natural stone, porcelain, block paving and reclaimed materials. Full excavation, compacted sub-base, correct falls away from the building, and pointing that does not crack out in the first frost. We will tell you honestly whether your existing base can be reused or needs lifting.
Site clearance, levelling, footings, sub-bases, retaining structures and drainage runs. Access is usually the deciding factor in Berkshire gardens, so we survey it first and quote for the machine that actually fits.
Garden walls, brick piers, steps and boundary work. Raked out to proper depth with a mortar mix matched to the original, rather than new cement smeared over old. Lime mortar where the structure calls for it.
Thames Valley clay holds water. French drains, soakaways, permeable paving, channel drains and regrading. We work out where the water is actually going before digging anything.
Clearing, repair and replacement on outbuildings, garages, garden rooms and conservatories. Blocked guttering is the most common cause of damp walls and waterlogged borders, and it is worth fixing before it becomes a bigger job.
Steps, walls, raised beds, edging, pathways, decking, pergolas and garden structures. The bones of the garden, built to last rather than to look right for one summer.
The living side. Maintained organically, on a schedule that suits you, by people who know what should be cut and when.
Turfing, planting schemes, topsoil and mulch, borders, screening and established tree and shrub placement. Plants chosen for Berkshire conditions rather than whatever the nursery had spare.
Weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Mowing, edging, weeding, deadheading, leaf clearance and seasonal tidying. The same team each visit, so nothing gets missed.
Aeration, scarifying, overseeding and organic feeding. No synthetic weed and feed. Slower than the chemical route, with better soil and stronger grass at the end of it. Wildflower areas where you want them.
Formal hedging, overgrown restoration, fruit tree pruning and shrub shaping, worked to RHS timing so plants are cut when they can take it. Nesting season respected — we check before we cut.
Soil testing, no-dig methods, compost system installation, leaf mould bays and mulching. Most garden problems turn out to be soil problems.
Full planting schemes with drawings and a plant schedule, or a single border reworked. Native and pollinator-friendly planting, year-round structure, and a plan you can phase over seasons if the budget needs spreading.
Tree surgery · Wildlife gardens and ponds · Kitchen gardens and raised beds · Seasonal planting · Garden clearance · Organic pest management · Garden restoration
Four steps, no surprises in the middle of them.
Tell us what you are dealing with. We will say straight away whether it is something we do, and roughly what range it sits in.
We come and look at access, levels, drainage, soil and what is salvageable. No charge, no obligation.
Itemised, so you can see what each part costs and drop anything you do not want. Valid for 30 days.
Agreed start date, agreed finish. Site left clean. We walk it with you before we invoice.
Chemical lawn treatments work quickly and leave you with weaker soil, fewer worms, and a lawn that depends on the next application. Organic methods take a season longer and then hold. That is the trade, stated plainly.
We are not going to pretend it applies to everything. Structural work needs cement. Some invasive species need treating properly. Certain timber needs preserving. When a job calls for it we will say so, rather than quietly doing it anyway and keeping the word organic on the website.
Waste is composted or reused on site wherever possible. Green waste that leaves site goes for composting. Hardcore and spoil are separated.
Berkshire has taken its gardens seriously for centuries. Roman villa gardens, medieval monastery plots, Tudor herb and orchard planting, then the Georgian landscape work at Basildon Park and Cliveden. Windsor Great Park is still one of the finest designed landscapes in the country.
That history is useful rather than decorative. The chalk downland, the river-valley clay and the woodland-edge soils here behave in specific ways, and the planting that has survived for centuries survived for reasons. We work with what the ground actually is, not what a catalogue suggests it should be.
Across Berkshire and the Thames Valley.
If you are in Berkshire or the Thames Valley, we cover you. Not sure? Ring and ask.
No. Site visit and written quote are free, with no obligation. If the job turns out not to be something we do, we will say so on the phone and save you the appointment.
It depends on the season and the size of the job. Maintenance rounds can usually take a new property within a fortnight. Paving and groundwork are scheduled further out, particularly through spring. Ring and we will tell you the honest lead time rather than a comfortable one.
Yes. Hard landscaping, drainage and repointing carry on through winter, and it is often the better time for them because the garden is dormant and the ground is not being walked over. Planting and turfing are timed to the season.
It means the parts that can be organic, are. Structural work needs cement and we will not claim otherwise. What we do control is the waste, the reuse of materials on site, the drainage design so run-off does not damage planting, and the soil we leave behind for whatever gets planted next.
Green waste is composted or reused on site wherever possible, and what leaves goes for composting. Hardcore and spoil from groundwork are separated and disposed of properly. Removal is itemised on your quote so you can see what it costs.
Yes. A single border, one length of guttering, a small patch of paving. Not everything has to be a full garden project, and small jobs are how most of our regular maintenance work starts.
Tell us what you are dealing with and we will give you an honest answer about whether we are right for it.
0203 286 3409Where to find us
Royal Berkshire Gardens