Three gardens in layers, overgrown with brambles five metres high from the back door to the end fence. Underneath it all we found a pool, a shed and a tree, and rescued a bird's nest along the way. We cleared it to soil ready for planting, did the front garden, and then the neighbour's garden too. An absolutely ridiculous job.
DuringPulling brambles along the fenceDuringThe front garden too, membrane down
Clearance · patio · drainage · studio
Compost mountain to a patio and a luxury studio office
A compost mountain three metres bigger than it looks here, a collapsing structure and ground that flooded. We packed out a couple of tonnes by hand, laid a new level patio, fitted drainage across the whole 7 × 8 metre area, turned the heap into a raked, compacted area with timber pillars, and rebuilt the structure as a luxury studio office. A very long process.
A couple of tonnes out by hand
Level patio laid
7 × 8 m drained
Studio office built
BeforeAfter
DuringMr Jamal holds the lineDuringSlabs going down on the sand bedDuringDrainage channels in
Clearance · new patio · new shed
A jungle garden, taken back to the soil
Ivy, trees and a collapsed shed swallowing the whole garden. We cleared it to the soil, laid a new patio base, put up a new shed and took away more van-loads than we'd like to admit. The worst of it was a rotten, hundred-year-old carpet in the old shed that fell apart at the slightest touch. That alone filled ten bags.
BeforeKnee-deep by the storage boxesDuringThe new shed base going down
Fish pond design & build
A fish pond, from the first spade to goldfish
Dug by hand, lined, filled and planted with marginals beside new decking. Mr Big Mac, our Senior Supervisor of Operations, personally inspected the dig.
OursPlanted community tankOursAquascape with driftwoodOursMoss and stem plants
Front garden clearance
Weeds to clean, level soil
Knee-high weeds and an old steel table, cleared and raked to clean, level soil.
Cleared in a day
Raked level
Everything taken away
BeforeAfter
Lawn & borders
A lawn and borders brought back
Long grass, overgrown borders and a messy patio. Cut, striped, edged and tidied.
Striped lawn
Borders edged
Patio swept
BeforeAfter
AfterFence border edgedAfterPatio swept clear
Clearance
An overgrown garden and a crumbling wall
Shrubs swallowing the railings, an overgrown conifer and rubble from a broken wall. Cut back, cleared and opened up.
Railings freed
Conifer cut back
Rubble removed
BeforeAfter
DuringCutting back and clearingDuringBagged and ready to go
Hedge cutting
A hedge cut and squared
An overgrown front hedge cut back, squared off and every clipping cleared.
Cut & shaped
Clippings cleared
FrontRight side
Lawn care
A sloped front lawn
Mown, edged and tidied, with a final check from the pavement by Mr Big Mac.
Mown & edged
Inspected by Mr Big Mac
DuringAfter
Brickwork & clearance · Brentford
A chimney down and 4–6 tonnes out
We took down a chimney and cleared four to six tonnes of bricks and gravel into the skip in under 30 minutes, because the skip driver was in a hurry. We were faster.
Chimney taken down
4–6 tonnes cleared
Under 30 minutes
BeforeDuring
DuringMasks on, shovels outDuringThe chimney breast, gone
Garden clearance
A long garden, cut back and cleared
A long, overgrown garden cut back, cleared and tidied from fence to fence, under Mr Big Mac's supervision.
Cut back
Cleared & bagged
Supervised by Mr Big Mac
BeforeAfter
DuringMr Big Mac on site
And more
More from the crew
Fresh stripes, Victorian terracePlanting and pots, front cornerBlossom garden with a round deckIndoors too: stair carpet stripped
On the job
The films
Straight from the crew's phones. Each one links back to its job.
In the thick of it
The crew mid-clearance, cutting it all back to the soil.
Walking into a garden nature had taken over, you never know what’s hiding in there. This time it was Mr Walker, our Left Hand Man, waiting in the trees. Watch it to the end, sound on.
