This article will be uploaded shortly.

Mr. Barbour, Ian, from Guisborough, Cleveland, Teesside wanted to update his tired, dated looking garden landscape. After a consultation with us, where we looked through various samples of patio stones and many different types of water features, Mr & Mrs Barbour decided to opt for Desert Sandstone for their patio area and a contemporary Granite Water Feature.

We also discussed and decided to construct a small wall and steps from split faced buff bricks and the desert sandstone. Plum coloured slate was chosen for around the water feature and coloured pebbles, these look great when wet and dry. We also decided to opt for some rustic cobbled edging around the water feature just to further enhance it and draw the eye to it from a distance.

The design of the patio was fairly straight forward. Ian had decided he wanted to keep the original cobble edging that had been round his existing patio. We laid the patio within this existing cobbled edge shape. We like to use various cuts and sizes of dessert sandstone within patios we construct. The differing sizes make the patio more attractive and interesting than using the same sizes over and over again. Dessert sand stone is a beautiful patio stone and lends itself well to being placed like this. This particular sand stone is yellow and peachy/pink tones. There are also fossils within the stone too, giving it an interesting and unusual appearance. Sandstone is a very pretty patio stone, has a smooth texture and a soft, pleasing appearance to the eye.
Testimonial:

Dear Andy & The lads,

Thank you so much for our new garden. The patio, wall, steps and water feature have made such a dramatic difference to our garden. We would recommend you and your lads to our friends any day. We were impressed with the speed you worked, your attention to detail and how helpful and caring you all were. Thanks again.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. & Mrs Barbour.
Guisborough, Cleveland, Teesside.

This landscaping project was very special to us. We love working with cedar wood decking boards, it's not very often that we get chance to do that either. Cedar wood is expensive, but it really is the 'Rolls Royce' of decking woods.

Cedar wood is the best wood to deck with, it's perfectly suited to the outdoors and doesn't require much looking after at all. The colours in cedar wood decking are fabulous - orange and red tones, very warm and inviting.

Mark asked for a decked area at the rear of his property - quite a large garden in Darlington, Cleveland, Teesside. We talked about exactly what style and design of decking he was looking for. Mark explained that he was keen to have a very different type of decking board. He wanted an up market feel to his decking.

Mark wanted a deluxe decking retreat where he could enjoy his garden and read on his days off and weekends. We ran through a few options and looked at several samples of decking boards. Eventually Mark decided that cedar wood was the decking wood for him. I can understand this, Cedar wood decking is stunning. Once you've seen cedar wood it's hard to want anything else. With the deck boards chosen we moved onto the style of the decking. Mark wanted to use the full lengths of the cedar wood to show off to a maximum the woods grain and colour. He also requested a 'picture frame' edge over hang on his decking.

The frame was constructed first using pressure treated deck joists. These were screwed in to place using treated posts and concrete. The decking frame was fixed with a slight fall away from the house. As with all decking the deck frame needed to be constructed with absolute precision, your decking frame is what will determine the end result of how your decking will look when completed. It absolutely must be 100% square and 100% flat.

Cedar wood decking, although a little more expensive than more common decking woods, looks absolutely spectacular when fitted correctly. It also has the most amazing smell which will always be present. It's rich and woody and makes you feel warm and comfortable.

Cedar wood needs no pressure treatment, it is the most durable and hardy wood in the world. Ideal for outdoor use and perfect for decking, as you can see from the pictures! Mark was thrilled to bits with his decking and has and still is enjoying the look smell and feel of his cedar wood decking!

Testimonial

" Thanks for the fantastic job you and your team did with my decking. I couldn't have hoped for anything better, it's absolutely stunning. Your attention to detail is outstanding. I love everything about it. I'm mesmerised every time I come out onto my decking. Wow - the wood is truly stunning, I definitely made the right decision going for the cedar wood.Thanks Again."

Mark Stratford

Middleton St. George, Darlington, Stockton on Tees, Cleveland, Teesside.

This landscape garden was a little bit different. The customer, Chris, wanted to re-design and implement a new patio area at the rear of his house but wanted it to be a surprise for his wife's birthday. This meant building the patio, retaining walls, raised beds and steps whilst his wife was away on business.

This gave me just over a week to start and complete the entire job! It also meant starting and finishing on very specific dates and working to a tight schedule.

Chris said his wife had always longed for something a little bit different in her garden, she had a love of butterflies and dragonflies. She has always wanted a circular patio feature that would stand out from the garden.

We chose Ral Green Sandstone paving for the patio area, this has nicely understated green, grey and taupe brown colours in it. We also suggested a dragonfly patio centre piece as the patio's focal feature and it is a circular patio. We felt sure that Chris's wife would love this. Chris agreed. A large, colourful, graceful dragonfly in the middle of the patio would be ideal for his wife, so that's what we did!

On either side of the patio we put in two sweeping, raised flower beds with retaining walls and between them I constructed a step to give access to the newly  turfed area which was on a higher level. The steps were topped off with Raj Green sandstone paving.

We managed to get the landscaping job completed before Chris's wife, Jane returned home from her business trip, much to her surprise and delight!

Testimonial

"Hi Andy. I just wanted to let you know how incredibly happy and grateful both me and Jane are for the amazing job you did of transforming our garden. The patio is brilliant. Jane loves the dragonfly feature. It looks incredible! Jane nearly fainted when I showed her it. This is one surprise she will never forget, that's all down to you. Thank you so very much."

Chris and Jane Bullock

Yarm, Stockton on Tees, Cleveland,Teesside.