CJ Landscapes looks after gardens in Reading in two ways. Some clients want an established garden kept in good order, month after month, by people who know it well. Others want a tired family garden rebuilt with a new patio, a better lawn and planting that suits the way they live. This page explains how both work, so you can see which one fits your garden before you get in touch.
Reading is the largest town in Berkshire, and its gardens are just as varied as its streets. Closer to the centre, many roads are lined with red brick Victorian terraces, where the back garden tends to be long, narrow and partly shaded by neighbouring walls. Further out, suburbs such as Caversham, Earley and Tilehurst offer more room, with wider plots and front gardens that face the road. Each kind of garden needs a different kind of care.
Our garden maintenance runs as a planned monthly programme rather than a string of one off tidy ups. Every month we spend a minimum of four man hours in the garden. That gives our team time to work through the garden properly, instead of rushing a quick cut and moving on.
The time is spent where your garden needs it most. In spring that might mean feeding borders, edging the lawn and clearing old growth. In summer the focus moves to watering, deadheading and keeping hedges in shape. Autumn brings leaf clearing and getting beds ready for winter, and the quieter months are a good moment to plan changes for the year ahead.
If your garden needs less input than a full monthly visit, we are happy to talk through a lighter arrangement that still keeps it looking cared for.
No two Reading gardens are looked after in quite the same way. A shaded terrace garden needs plants that cope with low light and careful watering close to walls. A larger suburban plot may need more time spent on lawns, hedges and borders. We plan each programme around the planting, the structure of the space and how you use it, so the garden develops steadily instead of being reset every season.
Watering systems, garden lights and water features can be looked over during the monthly visit too. Small faults, such as a blocked dripper or a light that has stopped working, are far easier to put right when someone is already looking over the garden each month.
You do not need to have had your garden built by us. We can take on maintenance for existing gardens, including those put in by another contractor. On the first visit we look at what is there, how it was meant to grow and what needs attention now, then set a plan that protects the original design rather than starting again.
Alongside garden maintenance, our landscapers in Reading design and build new gardens for family homes. Many projects begin with the same wish: a garden that works better for everyday life. That might be a patio big enough for a table and chairs, a lawn the children can play on, and planting that looks good without hours of work every weekend.
We handle the whole process ourselves. Our garden designers plan the layout, and the people who build it, our landscape construction crew, carry out the groundwork, drainage, levels and paving. We decide where lights, plants and watering will go at the start, so cables and pipes go in before the patio is laid rather than being squeezed in afterwards.
A patio is often the most used part of a family garden. We look at where the sun falls through the day, how you step out from the house and where water will run when it rains. Paths are planned to link the patio, the lawn and any shed or play area, so the garden is easy to get around in all weathers.
A good lawn starts underneath. Levels, drainage and soil are dealt with before any turf goes down. Borders are then planted to suit the aspect and the amount of care you want to give them, with a mix of shrubs, perennials and seasonal colour. Our garden planting page explains more.
Not every garden has to be finished in one go. If you know what you want the garden to become but would rather spread the work, we can draw up the full design first and then build it in stages. The patio and paths might come first, with planting and lighting added later. Because the whole design is agreed at the outset, each stage fits neatly with the next.
Once the building work is complete, the same team can carry on with monthly maintenance. The people who built your garden are then the ones looking after it as it matures.
Reading grew up where the Rivers Thames and Kennet meet, and parts of the town sit on low ground close to the water. Ground beside the rivers can stay soggy after heavy rain, so it pays to think harder there about drainage and which plants will cope. We look at how water moves across your garden before suggesting paving or planting, and plan around it from day one.
Every design we produce is bespoke to the garden in front of us, and our quotes are free with no obligation attached. As a local business with years of hands on experience, we try to be honest and respectful in the way we work, whether we are drawing up a new garden or calling in for a monthly visit.
Downstream on the Thames, we also have a page for Henley on Thames.
Each visit lasts at least four man hours and covers the work your garden needs at that time of year, such as lawn care, pruning, weeding, border care and hedge trimming. Irrigation, lighting and water features can be checked as part of the visit.
Yes. We can take on maintenance for an existing garden built by another contractor and set a plan that supports its planting and its original design.
Yes. We can prepare a full design first and then build it over more than one stage, so each part fits with the rest once the garden is complete.
Yes. If your garden needs less input than our standard monthly programme, we can discuss a lighter arrangement that suits the garden and what you want from it.
To talk about garden maintenance or a new landscaping project in Reading, call 01276 582095 or 07717 058646. You can also write to us using the form on our contact us page.
