Project summary
A client had just purchased a house in Uckfield to add to their portfolio. The garden had been left to grow on and was difficult to use or maintain. The brief was to transform it in a single day, returning it to a tidy, manageable state while protecting the established plants worth keeping so the garden would continue to perform through the seasons.
The brief
• Clear overgrowth and accumulated vegetation
• Open up access and sightlines so the garden feels usable again
• Retain and protect desirable shrubs and structural planting
• Leave the garden in a maintainable condition, ready for routine upkeep
• Complete the work in one day to suit the client’s timescales
Before
The garden was heavily overgrown, with dense growth across borders and around the patio. The overall structure of the space was hard to read, with key features partly hidden, and the garden felt closed in and time-consuming to bring back under control.
Our approach
We focused on selective clearance rather than stripping everything back. A garden can look “tidy” after a heavy cut, but it often removes the planting that gives year-round structure and makes future maintenance easier. Instead, we worked methodically through the space, separating what needed to go from what should be retained, then pruning and shaping retained plants to promote healthy regrowth.
What we did in one day
• Selective clearance of bramble, self-seeded growth and unwanted vegetation
• Pruning and shaping of retained shrubs and border plants to restore form and improve airflow
• Hedge line tidy and general garden reset to re-establish clean edges and usable areas
• Patio tidy so the immediate outdoor area was practical again
• Final clear-up so the garden was left ready for ongoing maintenance and use
After
By the end of the day the garden was open, accessible and easy to manage. The cleared lawn and main space were revealed, borders were brought back into line, and retained planting was left in good shape to grow on. Most importantly, the garden was returned to a maintainable baseline, meaning it can now be kept looking good with simple, regular visits rather than repeated heavy clearance.
Outcome and ongoing support
The client was extremely happy with the transformation and has continued to use our services moving forward. For portfolio properties, this kind of reset is often the turning point. It improves first impressions, reduces future maintenance time, and preserves valuable established planting that will help the garden look good throughout the year.
Before: overgrown borders and dense growth made the garden hard to use and difficult to maintain.
After: a one-day clearance opened up the space, retained key plants, and returned the garden to a manageable state.