Sandown Racecourse was the prestigious setting for the Association of Professional Landscapers APL award ceremony on 12th February, where Hambrooks walked away with yet another national award. Bringing the total since 1997 to a staggering 47 awards. No other garden landscape company has come near to this, so there was a euphoric reaction was winning designer Mike Hodges was called to the stage to receive his award.

Mike, who has been designing gardens with Hambrooks for 18 years, won the category for gardens up to 10,000 with an entry entitled Urban Courtyard. Although a very small garden, Mike managed to devise a stunning design, which made excellent use of the space and included raised beds as well as a wall of glass water feature.

Converted from part of a town centre military hospital in Chichester, the area would have originally been outside of the old laundry. Once the building had been converted into dwellings, the small space was left as just compacted rubble, surrounded by a brick wall.

The Hambrook team soon got to work and built a garden set at 45 degrees to the house to give an impression of more space. Black slate tiles, to latch those inside the house, lead from the French doors and around the raised oak sleeper borders. The glass and stainless steel water feature was used to give a central feature which could be seen through and soften the town traffic noise. Mediterranean planting and subtle lighting complete the garden.

For more information on how any size garden can be transformed, call Kevin on 01489 779998.

Hambrooks Sweep Landscaping ‘Oscars’

This year Hambrooks entered four gardens for the national Association of Professional Landscaper (APL) awards and all four won an award!

Three of the gardens were for design and landscaping while one was for garden maintenance.

Winner – Project value under £10,000
In the project value under £10,000 category.  The clients brief was to transform a small and neglected back garden space into a mainly hard landscaped garden to entertain and also have the ‘wow’ factor.  The client wanted the garden to incorporate the design of the new garage and to harmonise with the doors from the newly extended and modernized house.  Some planting was requested so that the garden did not look too harsh, but it needed to look good all year round.  The judges commented that the work done was “very good value for under £10,000

Winner – Garden and Grounds Maintenance
The entry for this category showcased the work at a large country garden in Southampton and won the award for maintenance.  The previous owner of the property originally planted the garden many years earlier but by the time the current owners purchased the property the garden was very over-grown and neglected.  They wanted the garden to look like it had originally and to be maintained to a very high standard.  Being their second home, the clients were not able to do much maintenance on a regular basis.  The garden was restored and large lawns, formal beds, orchard, pool garden and drive area maintained regularly.  The judges commented that there was “good structure, horticultural input and care and attention.”

Two other gardens were highly commended and both were of a fairly modern design, reflecting the trend for low maintenance easy care designs.

For more information, or to arrange for an estimate to transform your garden, call Julie on 01489 779998.