Talk
Call Jake. Town, what is wrong, and whether it is a design, a drive, a tree or a tidy.
Birchall Lane · Hertford
The whole garden, from the first visit to the sweep-up.
Low maintenance design, hard and soft landscaping, grounds maintenance and tree surgery for homes, commercial sites and public clients across Hertfordshire. Jake McGrath runs the practice from The Garden Centre, Birchall Lane.
The practice
Consultation, design, build, then a clear site.
Hertfordshire Garden Landscapes takes a job from the first conversation through the design and the build, and on to sweeping up. Work has ranged from modest ponds and water features to rooftop gardens and corporate landscaping, as well as the domestic gardens in the portfolio.
The standard is personal and specific. Any size, a budget you are honest about, and a layout you will still want in five years. The portfolio is a sample of garden design and hard landscaping around the county, not a catalogue of everything the team has touched.
Services
Five ways we are usually asked to help.
Garden design
Low maintenance garden design
Family gardens, courtyards, and formal or informal layouts that you can actually look after.
Hard landscaping
Hard landscaping
Driveways, patios, walls, fences, decking and ponds, from a short alley to a steep front drive.
Maintenance
Estate and grounds maintenance
Regular gardens and grounds for homes, offices, hotels, schools, colleges and housing associations.
Tree surgery
Tree surgery
Felling, reductions, pruning and stump removal by arborists who hold current certificates.
Digger hire
Mini digger and dumper hire
Machines with a driver, or machines only, for excavation, demolition spoil and muck-away.
How a job runs
One team, from the sketch to the clear-up.
Design
A layout matched to how you use the garden and how much time you will give it.
Build
Hard and soft landscaping by the same crew, with a digger on site when the ground needs it.
Stay, if you want
Some gardens move onto a monthly maintenance round once the build is finished.
Portfolio
Before and after, from the existing site.
Every photograph here is a project already published by the practice.
Alley way paving
A short side passage paved in block and slab, so the bins have a surface and the gap has a finish.
Mrs Antony’s back garden
A Hertford wasteland rebuilt as paving, gravel, lawn, a new fence and a working area at the end.
Patio and garden, Potters Bar
A shaded Potters Bar garden opened with a feature patio, paths, trimmed conifers and new fence panels.
Sandstone driveway, Borehamwood
Tarmac taken up in Borehamwood and replaced with sandstone slabs, a block edge and pointed joints.
Areas
Hertfordshire, from the hill at Elstree.
Guides
Notes for anyone planning a Hertfordshire garden.
6 min read
A Hertfordshire garden you can keep up with
How a low maintenance garden is planned for busy households: lawn where children play, paving and gravel where you walk, and planting that does not need a weekend.
6 min read
What a grounds maintenance round actually covers
The jobs on a regular Hertfordshire garden and grounds visit: lawns, hedges, beds, leaves, jet washing and the one-off clearances when a site has got away.
5 min read
Hiring a mini digger or dumper in Hertfordshire
When a landscaping job needs a machine: ponds, breaking out an old drive, and moving spoil, with a driver or as machine-only hire.
Questions
Before you call.
Where do you work?
Across Hertfordshire, from The Garden Centre on Birchall Lane in Hertford. Published work includes Borehamwood, Radlett and Potters Bar, and jobs further out in St Albans, Hemel Hempstead and Stevenage.
Who runs Hertfordshire Garden Landscapes?
Jake McGrath. He is the person you speak to at the start, and the practice is built around that conversation rather than a call centre.
Do you take small gardens?
Yes. The portfolio includes a paved alley and a side courtyard as well as whole back gardens and long drives. The brief matters more than the square metres.
Can I hire a digger with a driver?
Yes. Mini digger and dumper hire is available with a driver or as machines only, for excavation, demolition spoil and muck-away.