Southampton and within 20 miles
Hard Landscaping and Garden Paving
Hard landscaping is everything in the garden that is built rather than planted: paving, paths, edging, walls and bases. Getting these right first gives the rest of the garden something solid to grow around.
Planned for your property
A sound foundation and a finish that belongs
The hard parts of a garden decide how it works: where you walk, where you sit, where water goes and where the lawn ends. Ashley plans and builds them together, so levels match, edges meet cleanly and the groundwork is done once rather than revisited.
Ashley stays closely involved from the first conversation to the final tidy-up, so you always know who is responsible for your project.
What you can expect
- Patios, paths and paved areas
- Edging, low walls and borders
- Concrete and slab bases
- Groundwork planned before any surface
The surfaces we build
Patios are the centre of most hard landscaping, laid on a dug and compacted base with falls away from the house. Pathways connect the patio to the rest of the garden in gravel, stone or slabs. Slabbing covers the smaller paved areas such as shed standings and side returns, and concrete bases carry heavier buildings and hot tubs.
Each has its own page with the detail of how it is built, but on site they are planned together so the levels and edges meet cleanly.
Hard landscaping within a wider redesign
Where the whole garden is being reworked, the hard landscaping is the skeleton of the new layout. The garden redesign page explains how clearance, levelling and the built surfaces fit into a full project, and in what order the work runs.
Why the groundwork comes first
Every built surface is only as reliable as what sits beneath it. A patio on a thin base sinks, a path on unprepared ground cracks, and edging set into soft soil wanders out of line within a couple of winters. That is why hard landscaping quotes here always include the digout, the sub-base and the drainage, rather than treating them as extras discovered later.
It is also why the built work is scheduled before lawns and planting. Machines and materials need room to move, and finishing the heavy work first means the soft parts of the garden go in once, onto ground that is already final.
If you are planning work for next year, autumn and winter are the right seasons for the groundwork itself, so the surfaces can be built and the garden finished ready for spring.
Pricing
What affects the cost of hard landscaping?
Hard landscaping is priced per project after a site visit. The biggest factors are how much groundwork the site needs, the surfaces you choose, the access for machines and materials, and how much old material has to come out first. Combining jobs, such as a patio and a path in the same visit, usually costs less than doing them separately because the digout and waste removal are shared.
Timescales
How a hard landscaping project runs
Site visit
Levels, access, drainage and your plans are talked through before anything is priced.
Groundwork
Clearance, digouts and levelling come first, so every surface starts on sound ground.
Building
Paving, paths, edging and bases are built in the right order, working away from the house.
Finishing
Joints, edges and levels are checked, and the site is left clean and ready to use.
Guides
Helpful reading before you commit
The right order of work for a garden redesign
The order a garden rebuild should run in, and why the hard landscaping comes first.
Read the guide SeasonalBook winter groundwork so your garden is ready for spring
Why autumn and winter are the right months for groundwork before a spring build.
Read the guideCommon questions
Hard Landscaping: your questions answered
What counts as hard landscaping?
The built parts of the garden: patios, paths, driveways, edging, low walls, steps and bases. Soft landscaping is the planting, turf and soil work that follows it.
Should hard landscaping come before planting?
Yes. Diggers, barrows and materials destroy lawns and beds, so the built work is finished first and the soft landscaping goes in afterwards.
Can you do the paving and paths as one job?
Yes, and it usually makes sense to. The groundwork, machinery and waste removal are shared, and the levels between the surfaces are matched as they are built.
Do paving contractors handle the drainage too?
Drainage is part of the groundwork, not an extra. Falls are set away from buildings, and where the ground holds water a channel or soakaway is planned before any surface goes down.
Plan ahead
Book winter groundwork so your garden is ready for spring
Autumn and winter are useful times to tackle digouts, levelling, fencing and foundations. Get the preparation done before the days get longer.
Areas covered
Local landscaping within 20 miles
Ready to improve your garden?
Arrange a free site quotation with Ashley.