Soft Landscaping

Soft Landscaping in Hertfordshire

Soft landscaping is what gives a garden its soul — the planting, turfing and seasonal interest that make a space feel alive. Matthew Oliver Landscapes designs and delivers bespoke soft landscaping across Hertfordshire, choosing every plant to suit your garden's soil, light and aspect as well as your own aesthetic. Schemes built for year-round interest that look good from day one and better every year after.

Soft Landscaping

WHY MATTHEW OLIVER LANDSCAPES

Soft landscaping is where design knowledge and horticultural expertise come together. Matthew Oliver Landscapes selects plants that genuinely suit your garden's conditions, work with the overall design and deliver the seasonal interest and year-round appeal that makes a garden a genuine pleasure to spend time in.

Planting is also the one part of a garden that changes. A scheme chosen without regard for how big things get, or how they behave in a Hertfordshire winter, looks right for a season and wrong for a decade. We plan for the size each plant will reach and the way the scheme will read in February as well as July — so the garden matures into the design rather than away from it.

WHAT WE OFFER

Complete Soft Landscaping Solutions

Every planting scheme is designed around your garden's conditions and the way you want the space to feel through the year — the right plant in the right place, on properly prepared ground.

01 Patios Large-format porcelain, natural stone or premium concrete, laid on a properly built sub-base so the surface stays flat and true.
02 Paths & walkways Routes that follow how the garden is actually walked, in materials that tie the whole scheme together rather than interrupting it.
03 Driveways Built to take the weight, with the sub-base and drainage worked out before a single slab or block is laid.
04 Retaining walls Level changes handled structurally — proper foundations, drainage behind the wall, and a finish that belongs to the garden.
05 Garden steps Consistent risers and generous treads, set out so you never have to look down to know where the next one is.
06 Raised beds & planters Built in materials that match the hard landscaping, lined and drained so the planting inside them actually thrives.
07 Garden & boundary walls Brick, block-and-render or stone, detailed with proper copings so the wall sheds water instead of soaking it up.
08 Structure bases Foundations and fixings for pergolas, garden rooms and outdoor kitchens, set out at the same time as everything else.
09 Water features Chambers, liners and services built into the hard landscaping while the ground is open, not cut in afterwards.
10 Drainage Falls, channels and soakaways designed in from the start, which is the difference between a patio and a puddle.

The bones of the garden

Hard landscaping is where the quality of a project is decided. Every base is prepared correctly, every material specified to suit the property rather than whatever is most convenient, and every element set out with the precision that separates good landscaping from exceptional.

our service areas

Covering Hertfordshire & Surrounding Areas

Matthew Oliver Landscapes covers the whole of Hertfordshire — including Stevenage, St Albans, Harpenden, Radlett, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Welwyn, Knebworth, Hitchin, Hertford, Ware, Bishops Stortford, Oaklands, Tewin, Burnham Green, Watton-at-Stone, Datchworth, Ayot St Lawrence, Wheathampstead, Little Berkhamsted, Essendon and Bengeo.

Bringing gardens to life

Discover how lawns, layered planting and carefully placed greenery add colour, texture and balance to outdoor spaces.

Gravel garden path between a lawn and a planted border with shrubs Lawn, borders and gravel path Lawn beside a gravel path, established hedge and planted border Lawn and planted borders Garden border with shrubs, lawn, pale paving and timber fencing Planted garden boundary Ornamental plants in raised beds around an illuminated water feature Planting and evening lighting Lawn with rectangular stepping stones, raised beds and timber fencing Lawn and stepping stones Freshly laid lawn with rectangular stepping stones beside a patio and raised beds Fresh lawn and stepping-stone path Planted timber bed beside a paved path and a brick garden wall Timber planter and garden path Natural stone patio with a circular water feature beside a lawn and hedges Stone patio and garden lawn

get in touch

Book a Free Consultation

Call 07542 030472 or fill in our contact form to arrange a free, no-obligation consultation at your property.

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Matthew Oliver Landscapes is a design-led landscaping company creating bespoke outdoor spaces across Hertfordshire. From initial design through to the finished garden, every project is delivered with careful planning, premium materials and quality craftsmanship.

Contact

Stevenage, Hertfordshire

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