What we mean by full landscaping
A complete garden project usually has six components:
- Design: concept layout, levels, where the patio sits, where the planting goes
- Excavation and grading: digging down to sub-base depth, dealing with slopes, removing existing paving or hardcore
- Drainage: French drains, channel drains, soakaways, rainwater run-off plans
- Hard landscaping: patios, paths, retaining walls, fences, gates
- Soft landscaping: planting plans, turf, beds, hedges, mulched borders
- Aftercare guidance: watering plans, seasonal maintenance, mulching schedule
We do all six in-house with the same team, on the same schedule. The result is a garden that’s coherent, paving, drainage and planting all designed together, not bolted on by three different firms.
Sub-base spec, what stops a patio moving
The single biggest difference between a patio that looks great in year one and a patio that’s still flat ten years later is what’s underneath it. Our spec for every patio:
- Excavation to 200–250mm below finished paving level
- MOT Type 1 sub-base laid in 25mm lifts, each lift compacted with a 90kg whacker plate. Total compacted depth: 100mm minimum, 150mm on heavy clay or sloped sites
- Geotextile membrane between sub-base and bedding mortar, stops fines migrating up through the joint and prevents weed growth from below
- Bedding mortar (4:1 sharp sand to cement, semi-dry) at 30mm depth
- Slope (1:80 minimum) falling away from the house and toward a drainage point
- Mortar pointing with a slot jointer, never just brushed-in dry mix
This spec adds about £15–£25 per square metre vs. cheap “lay paving on sand” approaches. It’s the difference between a patio that lasts 20 years and one that needs relaying in five.
Slopes, retainers and drainage
Most Rugby gardens slope at least a bit. Cawston new-builds typically slope front-to-back at 1:30 or steeper. Hillmorton’s older gardens often have railway-spoil sub-soil and complex levels. Dunchurch country plots can have full 2-metre falls across the back.
We work with three retainer types:
- Sleeper retainers: pressure-treated softwood or hardwood (oak/iroko on premium specs). Up to 1m unsupported, taller with stepped tiers. Cheaper, faster to install, 25–40 year life.
- Brick walls: engineering brick or facing brick on a footing. Good aesthetic match for Victorian/Edwardian houses. Slower to build, 50+ year life, harder to alter later.
- Concrete-and-render: poured concrete core with a render finish. Strongest of the three for heavy retaining. Used on bigger jobs where the wall holds significant earth pressure.
Drainage gets spec’d alongside. French drains behind sleeper walls relieve hydrostatic pressure. Channel drains across the bottom of sloped patios prevent flooding into the house. Where the slope dumps water onto a neighbour, we plan a soakaway to handle the volume.
Planting that actually establishes
The fastest way to ruin a beautiful new garden is to plant it badly. We pay attention to:
- Soil prep: new-build subsoil (Cawston, Bilton estate gardens) needs serious improvement: 100mm topsoil rotovated in, organic matter added, compaction lifted with broadfork before planting
- Aspect and pH: what’ll thrive in your specific spot rather than what looks good in a Pinterest photo
- Time-budget: high-maintenance prairie schemes vs. low-fuss shrubs depending on what you’ll actually look after
- Bare-root timing: bare-root tree and hedge planting only works in dormancy (Nov–Feb in Warwickshire)
- Aftercare watering: clear written plan for the first two seasons, when 80% of new-planting failure happens
Planting palette is bespoke to your garden, not a stock list we copy/paste between jobs.
Pricing for landscaping in Rugby
Project costs vary enormously, but typical ranges:
- Patio only (20–30 sqm porcelain, sub-base, drainage): £4,000–£8,000
- Mid-size project (40–60 sqm patio, one sleeper retainer, basic planting): £10,000–£20,000
- Full back-garden rebuild (patio, walls, fence, planting, lawn): £20,000–£40,000
- Large bespoke project (multi-tier terracing, large planting plan, water features): £40,000–£60,000+
Talk to the Rugby tree surgery and landscaping team for a free design consultation and detailed written quote.
