A four-month garden renovation in Kingham, Cotswolds, clearing an overgrown plot for 400m² of new turf, a sunken fire pit and space for chickens and bees.
Tucked behind a beech hedge at a property in Kingham, the Secret Garden had been left to grow wild for years. Buried rubble, an old greenhouse and patchy boundaries had made the space impossible to use or maintain. Our brief was to clear it back to good ground and create a practical, family-friendly garden where the children can play, vegetables can be grown, and chickens and bees can be kept. The finished scheme includes a refurbished boundary, relocated water supply, 400m² of new turf, a Cotswold chipping area and a safe sunken fire pit.
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The boundary was inconsistent, with gaps in the hedging, overgrown vegetation and ageing fencing. Bricks, rubble and old timber lay buried beneath the long grass, leaving the ground uneven and impossible to mow or maintain.
Getting into the garden meant squeezing through a small gap in the beech hedge, which opened straight onto an old greenhouse and a bonfire area. The two existing water outlets were also badly placed, making it difficult to get water to the parts of the garden that would need it most.
We started by clearing the site completely, removing buried bricks, rubbish and timber, along with the old greenhouse and its foundations. The overgrown hedges and vegetation were cut back and chipped finely, and the resulting wood chip was reused as mulch around the beds elsewhere in the garden, so nothing went to waste.
The garden already had a generous depth of good-quality Cotswold soil, so rather than importing topsoil, we rotavated and levelled what was there. A sunken fire pit was dug into the ground and surrounded with stone and chippings to keep fires safe and contained. The water pipes were relocated to more practical positions, and new turf was laid alongside a Cotswold chipping area that will become home to a new greenhouse, beehives and chickens.
The original boundary line was refurbished first to define the working area. Once the ground had been cleared of debris, it was levelled and the water supply rerouted.
Over the following days, the fire pit was dug and 15 tonnes of Cotswold chippings were laid over a permeable membrane to the client's specification. Finally, 400m² of turf was laid over two days, completing the transformation.
The Secret Garden now works exactly as intended. The children have a safe, level lawn to play on, and the chipping area is ready for a greenhouse to grow vegetables. Chickens and bees will have plenty of space, with water close at hand to make day-to-day upkeep easy.
The sunken fire pit gives the family somewhere to enjoy evening fires and safely burn garden waste, as the client requested. What was once an inaccessible corner of the property is now a well-used part of family life in Kingham.
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From the initial meeting to the final clear up Patrick and Luke were unfailingly polite and professional. Patrick’s quotation for the work was sensible with a detailed breakdown. The work was started on time and was kept to time. The resulting terracing exceeded expectations and the work area was left cleaner than when the team arrived. I cannot thank Patrick, Luke and Jake enough for all their work and would have no hesitation in recommending PLEX Group.
It has been a pleasure having Plex work with me on my garden project. Totally engaged, very communicative and prompt. Access to my property is difficult but they just worked around any problems with a refreshing 'can do' attitude. I would happily recommend Plex to anyone working on a garden project.
Fantastic work and would highly recommend. The team were professional, friendly, considerate, hard working and flexible to ensure the works met our needs and expectations. Really nice team to have on site and were respectful and kept it as tidy as they could. Very impressed with the work and looking to get them to come back to do a couple of other jobs for us in the future.
I am really happy with the work that Plex did. They came up with solutions to problems that arose quickly, efficiently and without any stress. They were friendly, professional, organised, efficient and had excellent communication.
We have recently had a new garage installed from the Plex team and we are thrilled with the finished product. Can't thank Patrick Luke and their team enough. Would highly recommend.
I would highly recommend Luke and Patrick and their team. They are all extremely polite and hard-working. They put up a new pergola in our back garden and tidied up the edges of the garden. An excellent job.
Patrick, Luke and their team have transformed our sloped garden giving us a lovley functional space. They removed a hedge sadly over run with brambles with a fence gaining us a couple more meters of garden too! Despite having a week of rain they did their best to clear up at the end of the job. We would highly recommend this professional team.
Luke and Patrick have completed two projects for us now. They are the most polite and professional people with a hardworking team of individuals. Nothing is too much trouble for them.
Luke and his team are really lovely and professional. Cannot recommend him enough.
Luke and the team are absolutely brilliant. A passion for what they do and personal but professional, so pleased to have found them!
Really pleased with the concrete base for my carport that was completed by the team , worked really hard in poor weather conditions . Great job would definitely recommend the team .
Our garden has never looked better - hard-working, thorough, and also great at getting in touch if there's a change to the schedule, etc. They have nursed our box hedging back to health. Before and and after photos are a bonus!
Competitive price wise even though the work carried out was to a very high standard. I was very pleased with the end result and impressed with the tidiness they left the garden after all the work was carried out. A very happy customer!
Very obliging and efficient we have worked out a schedule that suits us both.
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