For many households in Hook, the garden is where the house gains its extra room. A well built patio, a sheltered seating area and a path that leads somewhere make a garden far more useful than a lawn alone. Our landscapers design and build these outdoor living spaces, from the groundworks up, so they stay level, drain properly and feel comfortable to sit in.
You can see the kind of work we mean on our projects page, which includes a garden in Hook with natural limestone and a bespoke outdoor living space, completed in June 2023.
The surface you choose sets the tone for the whole garden. Natural stone such as limestone or sandstone has gentle variation in colour and texture, and it softens with age. Porcelain is very consistent, easy to clean and resists staining, which suits a crisp, modern look. Gravel is quick to lay, lets water soak through and works well for paths and informal areas. We bring samples, talk through how each one wears and help you choose something that suits both the house and the way you will use the space.
What lies under a patio matters as much as the stone on top. Much of the ground around Hook is clay, with gravel in places, and clay holds water and moves as it wets and dries. A firm, well compacted sub base, the right falls to carry rain away from the house and sensible drainage at the edges keep paving flat and free of puddles for years. Our landscape construction page explains how we approach this.
Every garden starts with a bespoke design. Much of Hook's housing dates from the twentieth century onwards, and many plots are simple rectangles with a lawn and a fence. A good design divides that space into clear areas, such as a terrace near the house, a lawn for play and a quieter corner further down, so the garden works for the whole household.
Our garden designers, and the wider network of designers we work with, plan the hard landscaping, planting and lighting together. Because the same business builds what is designed, each idea is checked against how it will be made on site, and the finished garden matches the drawing.
Hook sits on the A30 just north of junction 5 of the M3, but it is surrounded by surprisingly wild country. The River Whitewater, a chalk stream in its upper reaches, runs along the eastern edge of the village, and to the south lie Hook Common and Bartley Heath, an area of wet heathland protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
That setting is worth borrowing from. A garden that backs onto open country can use native hedging such as hawthorn and hazel, a strip of longer grass and plants that feed bees and butterflies, linking it to the landscape beyond the fence. Our biodiversity page explains how we plan for wildlife without making a garden look untidy.
A new garden needs looking after while it settles. Young plants need watering through their first dry spells, joints in new paving are best checked after the first winter and borders need shaping as they fill out. Our dedicated maintenance team works to a monthly programme with a minimum four man hour visit, which gives time for this kind of steady care. We can maintain gardens we built and gardens built by another contractor, and visits can include checks on irrigation, lighting and water features.
Larger gardens and grounds benefit from the same planned approach on a bigger scale: hedges cut at the right time, lawns kept in good condition and borders managed through the seasons. Because our maintenance team works alongside the people who design and build gardens, they understand how a scheme is meant to develop. More detail is on our garden maintenance page.
An outdoor living space earns its keep on summer evenings, and the right lighting makes that possible. Low lights set into steps and walls, a soft glow under a bench or a light washing up through a tree make the space feel welcoming after dark without glare. We plan cable routes before the paving goes down, so nothing has to be lifted later. See our outdoor lighting page for the options.
The best outdoor living spaces feel enclosed without being closed in. Low walls at seating height, raised beds that bring planting up close and a screen of shrubs or climbers on the windiest side all help a terrace feel sheltered. We size the space for the furniture you actually own, with room to walk around the table, so it works every day rather than only on paper.
Both work well. Natural stone such as limestone gives a softer, more traditional look and weathers gently over time. Porcelain is very uniform, easy to clean and resists stains. We can bring samples and explain how each would suit your house, your garden and how much cleaning you want to do.
A little care in the first year or two makes a big difference. New plants need regular water in dry weather, mulching and light pruning, and new paving and lawns benefit from early checks. Our monthly maintenance programme can pick this up as soon as the build is finished.
It will if it is built properly. We lay a firm sub base, set falls so rain runs away from the house and add drainage where water would otherwise collect. That keeps the surface level and dry even on heavy ground.
Get a free quote, with no obligation, by calling 01276 582095 or 07717 058646 or by messaging us from our contact page. Close by, we also work in Hartley Wintney and Fleet.
