Biblical rain and a boat to work

Heavy rain, flooding and a choppy tidal river made a garden project in Chester one of our most challenging projects in terms of delivery.

And that wasn’t all we had to contend with.

Sourcing a commercial tug to deliver both staff and tools up river in driving rain and in a Covid secure way made for an interesting commute to work.

The tug company fastened a pontoon to the side of the river-accessed garden during the project and happily transported diggers, all the tools, every bit of sandstone and clay block pavers for the walling, all of the planting and soil, everything, up stream. Some days it was a logistical nightmare.

The private garden, in a stunning position on the banks of the River Dee in Chester, is steeply sloped with a four-metre change in level from the top of the garden to the bottom.

Our brief was to improve the views, create usable spaces and sheltered space so the garden could be used all year round, and make the most of the riverside location.

We added colour and texture with our planting, pleached trees for screening, a boathouse roof deck with seating, interesting edges and paths and even an area for an outdoor kitchen and pizza oven.

And we built gently curved sandstone walls into our design to protect the soil from slipping downhill.

The homeowners only moved into their new house earlier this year and the garden was the last thing to complete.

We knew it was going to be a challenging brief but we like to pride ourselves on our problem solving and going the extra (nautical) mile for our clients.