Driveways, patios, fencing, turfing, garden landscaping and green waste removal — everything below is carried out by the same team, and the waste goes away with us.
Our services
What we can do for your garden or driveway
Jump straight to what you need, or call 07517 741883 and talk it through.
Reshaping a whole garden, or one part of it, so it works
Most gardens we are called to in Newcastle have one of a handful of problems: the ground slopes so nothing is usable, the lawn sits wet all winter, the borders have disappeared under years of growth, or the layout was set out for a household that has long since moved on. Garden landscaping is the work of putting that right — moving levels, building the structure that holds them, and setting out the hard and soft areas so the space is actually used.
What this usually involves
Clearing and stripping back what is there
Excavation, levelling and terracing sloping plots
Sleeper, block or brick retaining walls
Paths, steps and edging courses
Borders, bark beds and raised planters
Topsoil, membrane and decorative aggregates
Good to know
Levels and drainage are decided first — everything else follows them
Retaining walls need proper foundations and drainage behind them
Access matters: a rear garden with no side gate means barrowing every load
We can do it in phases if you would rather spread the cost
Block paving, resin bound, tarmac and gravel drives
A driveway is the one part of a garden that has a tonne and a half of car parked on it every day, so what goes in underneath decides how long it lasts. We dig out, cart away, lay and compact a proper stone sub-base, then build the surface on top of that. Laying new paving over an old, tired base is quicker and cheaper, and it is also why so many drives around Newcastle end up rutted where the wheels sit.
Surfaces we lay
Block paving
Permeable block paving
Resin bound
Tarmac
Gravel & decorative stone
Concrete
Imprinted concrete repairs
What is included
Excavation of the existing drive and removal of all spoil
Compacted MOT Type 1 sub-base, membrane where needed
Edge restraints and kerbs haunched in concrete
Falls set and drainage — channel drains or soakaway
Manholes recessed or re-set to the finished level
Jointing, compaction and a final clean down
Worth asking any driveway firm
How deep are you digging out, and what sub-base are you using?
Where is the surface water going to go?
Is removal of the old drive included in the price?
Is the surface permeable, or is drainage being provided?
Planning permission: in England you can lay a front driveway of any size without planning permission if the surface is permeable or the water is directed to a border or lawn on your own land. More than five square metres of non-permeable surfacing with no drainage does need permission. Dropping a kerb for a new vehicle crossing always needs Newcastle City Council approval.
A patio takes far more punishment from North East weather than it does from people. Water that sits in voids under a slab freezes, expands and lifts it; water that runs the wrong way ends up against the house. So the two things we get right before a single slab goes down are the bed and the falls — laid on a full wet mortar bed rather than spot-bedded on dabs, and set to run water away from the building at a gentle, unnoticeable fall.
Paving we lay
Indian sandstone
Porcelain
Granite setts & paving
Limestone
Concrete paving
Riven & sawn finishes
Circle features
How we lay a patio
Excavate, remove the spoil, and set out the finished level
Compacted sub-base, then a full wet mortar bed
Porcelain primed with slurry so it bonds properly
Falls set away from the house and below damp-proof course
Pointed with a proper jointing compound and washed off
Edges, steps and any retaining detail finished to match
Choosing between stone and porcelain
Sandstone gives natural colour variation and a warmer look
Porcelain holds its colour and resists algae in shaded gardens
Sandstone is porous — sealing helps in damp, north-facing plots
Porcelain costs more but needs almost nothing doing to it
We work as a fencer as well as a landscaper, which is why fencing sits alongside the paving rather than being handed to somebody else. Almost every timber fence fails in the same place — at ground level, where the post meets wet soil. That is why the post and the fixings matter far more than the boards, and why concrete posts and gravel boards are worth the extra on an exposed Tyneside boundary.
Fencing we fit
Closeboard and featheredge, built on site
Lap, slatted, venetian and decorative panels
Post and rail, and picket fencing
Concrete or timber posts and gravel boards
Trellis and screening for patios
Made-to-measure side, garden and driveway gates
Repairs and replacements
Snapped or rotted posts replaced without taking down the run
Storm-damaged panels and boards swapped out
Leaning fences straightened and re-fixed
Old fence and concrete footings dug out and taken away
Fence heights: under permitted development in England a fence is normally allowed up to two metres, or one metre where it adjoins a road used by vehicles or the footpath alongside it. Conservation areas and listed buildings have their own rules — worth a quick check with Newcastle City Council if you are in one.
Garden clearance and waste taken away — with or without other work
Green waste removal is a service in its own right, not just something bolted onto a landscaping job. If you have had a hedge cut back, a tree taken down, or a garden that has simply got away from you, we come and take it. We load it ourselves, so there is no bagging up, no repeated trips to the tip in the back of a car, and no waiting weeks for a garden waste collection that will only take what fits in the bin.
What we take
Hedge cuttings
Tree branches & brash
Grass & lawn arisings
Brambles & overgrowth
Leaves & weeds
Old turf
Soil & roots
Bedding & shrubs
Typical jobs
One-off collections after a big cut back
Full clearance of overgrown or neglected gardens
End-of-tenancy and probate property clearances
Ongoing removal for landlords and letting agents
Spoil, turf and rubble from our own landscaping work
Your duty of care
Anyone removing waste from your property as a business must be a registered waste carrier
Ask us — and anyone else quoting — for those registration details
Householders can be fined if their waste is fly-tipped by an unregistered carrier
Laying turf is the easy part; what happens in the two days before it decides whether you get a lawn or a patchwork. The old grass has to come off, the ground has to be dug over and levelled, and there needs to be enough decent topsoil for roots to get into. Turf rolled straight onto compacted clay will look good for a fortnight and then thin out — which is exactly what happens across a lot of newer estates around Newcastle where the topsoil layer is minimal.
New turf
Old lawn and weeds stripped and taken away
Ground rotavated, levelled and raked
Topsoil added where the existing depth is poor
Fresh turf laid tight with staggered joints
Cut to a clean edge against borders and paving
Aftercare advice on watering and the first cut
Artificial grass
Excavation and a compacted permeable base
Weed membrane and laying course
Joined, pinned and edged so it does not lift
A sensible option for shaded or permanently wet gardens
The technical questions we get asked most often once someone has decided what they want done.
How deep should a driveway sub-base be?
For a domestic driveway taking cars, we normally excavate to around 200–250mm and lay a compacted MOT Type 1 sub-base of roughly 150mm, then the laying course and the surface on top. Soft, peaty or made-up ground — which is common on former colliery and infill land around Tyneside — needs to be dug deeper and sometimes needs a geotextile membrane to stop the stone sinking into the subsoil. Skimping on this is the single most common reason a drive develops ruts and dips within a couple of years.
Should patio slabs be laid on a full mortar bed or spot bedded?
A full mortar bed, every time. Spot bedding — five dabs of mortar under each slab — leaves voids underneath that fill with water, and in a North East winter that water freezes, expands and lifts or cracks the slab. It also means the slab rocks under foot where it is unsupported. We lay onto a full wet bed so the whole underside of the paving is supported, which is what natural stone and porcelain manufacturers specify anyway.
Do I need planning permission for a garden fence in Newcastle?
Usually not. Under permitted development in England a fence, wall or gate can normally be put up without planning permission if it is no more than two metres high, or no more than one metre high where it adjoins a road used by vehicles or the footpath beside it. Different rules apply to listed buildings and in conservation areas, of which Newcastle has several — including parts of Jesmond, Gosforth and the city centre. If you are unsure, check with Newcastle City Council before work starts.
Can you clear a garden that has been left overgrown for years?
Yes — overgrown clearances are a large part of what we do, including end-of-tenancy gardens, probate properties and gardens that have got away from someone after illness or a house move. We cut everything back, dig out roots and stumps where they need to come out, and take the whole lot away. Once it is cleared you can see what you are actually working with, and we can price turf, paving or fencing from there if you want to go further.
How soon can I walk on a new patio or drive on a new driveway?
For a patio we normally ask you to stay off it for around 24 hours after pointing so the mortar can go off, and longer in cold or damp weather. A block paved driveway can usually take a car after a day or two once the jointing sand is in and the blocks have been vibrated down. Resin and tarmac each have their own curing times, which we will tell you on the day. Rushing any of these is how you end up with movement in the surface.