Hard landscaping

Hard landscaping is part of how a low maintenance garden is drawn, not a separate trade bolted on at the end. The same people design it and build it.

Stone is bought from local and specialist suppliers, including yards that can say where the stone came from. The list people ask for most often is porcelain, Indian sandstone, granite, slate and York stone, plus resin on drives.

A job can be a new path and a gate, or a garden on more than one level with lighting, irrigation and a pond. The standard is the same either way.

What this covers

• Driveways, including resin, and paths
• Patios in porcelain, Indian sandstone, granite, slate and York stone
• Brickwork, block work, walling, timber and metal fencing, and gates
• Decking, terraces, pergolas, gazebos and oak-framed buildings
• Ponds, pools, waterfalls and other water features
• Lighting, irrigation, lawns and the planting that finishes the hard work