New terrace, steps and ancillary features in Robertsbridge

You can see from the early pictures the changes that have been made in this garden. Basically they had a very narrow and not very useful area right in front of the house which, being so restricted, did not get much sun. The clients wanted a much bigger terrace, with steps to link it to the rest of the garden. They also required an area for their shed and greenhouse which would 'sink' these structures so that they were not in the neighbour's view particularly. The access to the garden, even after the removal of the side fence, is only about six feet which meant that we could not use big machinery to remove the eighty tonnes or so of soil which were taken out.

Much of the work to this garden cannot be seen in the finished product. The garden is low-lying which meant that there was very little scope for drainage- there is only a narrow 'fall' in the drain pipes. Extensive drainage has been laid behind and through the walls, under the paving, down by the steps and under some paved areas which were deliberately left unpointed for plants to grow through. The walls themselves, while looking rustic, are actually backed with and laid on reinforced concrete to achieve a combination of good appearance as well as retaining wall strength.

When the main work was completed, further work was then done to the driveway.