Graham Epps

On Friday 3rd August 2012, Graham Epps was killed in a traffic accident.

Graham (28) was a former employee of Orchard Priory and one of Managing Director, Ross Gandon's closest and most trusted friends.

Ross paid tribute to his friend saying "Graham was an integral part of the set up of Orchard Priory and a great person to have along side me in the early days of the business. His personality, particularly his sense of humour, and his diligence in his work were of enormous value to Orchard Priory and to me personally".

"That Graham should be taken from us while still so young is tragic, I know that I am not the only one who will share this sentiment. While words are simply not enough to express the loss we feel, it is the simple truth when I say; Graham, you will be sorely missed".

The Headcorn Project Stable Block

One of the elements of our Headcorn project is the renovation of the stable block.

As you can see from the pictures above a new roof is required along with a definite improvement in general appearance.

We will be re-pitching the roof to an 'up and over style' with two Kent hips. This has required us to add two additional block levels to the height of the building.

The roof structure will be made from a tannelised softwood while the roof itself will be given an authentic appearance with the use of cedar shingles.

We plan to address the 'look' of the building by re-cladding it in a softwood weatherboard and will be installing new Iroco hardwood doors and frames. A bespoke cedar greenhouse will also be built and attached to one side of the stables.

Garden re-design in Headcorn

We have now started a new project, redeveloping a large garden in Headcorn.

The works include the laying of new pathways, creation of new vistas from the rear of the house, repair of an existing stable block including the building of a new roof, installation of fencing and lighting as well as the more soft landscaping matters such as putting in place a number of new planting beds and shrub and hedge planting.

This job will also include the creation of a new driveway access to the property to improve safety and the approach to the front of the house.
Planning permission has been saught for the new access and driveway from the local council.


The first two pictures here show some of the early works that have been carried out. The first image shows where an existing hedge has had a section removed to allow views from the house into the large garden beyond (which was previously hidden from view).

The second shows two of the Orchard priory team, Matthew Hopkins and Matthew Stevens creating a sizeable new planting bed.

The third picture shows the stable block in its current condition. Work has started on repairing this building and the new roof is due to be started tomorrow.

Check back soon for further updates on this project.

Gardens in a Box UK - Oriental Garden

The final concept design currently offered by Gardens in a Box UK is The Oriental Garden.

This garden utilises the natural forms of rock, planting and water to create a peaceful, low maintenance, atmospheric space.

The main garden is dominated by a large pond which is crossed by a stepping stone path providing a meandering route to a smaller, hidden area of the garden. This top area would be perfect for a traditional Japanese pagoda and a stone feature enclosed by rustling bamboos.

This garden is the perfect, quiet, location for contemplation.

The Oriental Garden includes natural sandstone paving, large pond with filtration system, gravel walkways, large stone feature boulders, trees and border shrubs and perennials.

For full details of this and all the other Gardens in a Box UK concept designs please visit www.gardensinaboxuk.com

Gardens in a Box UK - Terraced Garden

The Terraced Garden from Gardens in a Box UK is designed to create feature or to provide an option for gardens which are not level.

Curving brick retaining walls, steps and generous planting are combined to create an interesting, usable outdoor space.

The terracotta tiled top terrace, sweeps of lavender and hot coloured borders give this garden a mediterranean atmosphere which could be enhanced with Olive or Bay trees.

A central focal point provides interest from all areas of this garden.

The Terraced garden includes curving brick retaining walls, matching steps, sandstone paving, rope and post feature barrier, trees and border planting. For full detail of this and all the other Gardens in a Box concept designs please visit www.gardensinaboxuk.com

Gardens in a Box UK - Natural garden

The Natural Garden is the fourth of the six design concepts offered by Gardens in a Box UK.

This garden employs native planting and sweeping borders to create a wildlife friendly space with plenty of places to sit and enjoy.

The rustic gazebo and arch will be complimented by the colourful varieties of mature trees, shrubs and wildlife in the meadow areas.

Rambling roses will also wind their way through the hedgerow and over the structures.

This can all be enjoyed from the natural stone patio, positioned by the house, which blends into the adjacent lawn and borders.

The Natural Garden includes natural sandstone paving and stepping stones, hedging, trees and border planting. Further detail of this garden can be found at www.gardensinaboxuk.com

Gardens in a Box UK - Formal Garden

The third garden concept from gardens in a Box UK is The Formal Garden,

This garden uses strong symmetry and straight lines to create an ordered, beautiful space.

The evergreen hedges and the view to the arbour will visually increase the length of the garden while the formal objects such as the obelisks and knott garden will be tempered by the colourful, rambling herbaceous planting.

The pergola becomes an extension of the house itself by providing an outdoor room with dappled shade

The Formal Garden includes hedging, buxus (box planting) to the lawn edge and the knott garden, the softwood pergola and natural sandstone paving.



For full details of the Formal Garden and more about Gardens in a Box UK, why not visit www.gardensinaboxuk.com ?

Gardens in a Box UK - Modern Garden

The second of the six Gardens in a Box UK concept designs is The Modern Garden.

The Modern Garden uses crisp lines and striking features to create an area of beautiful planting an an area for entertainment.

The rendered wall with its archway and windows allows for tantalising views of the water feature from the house and provides shelter for the seating area and firepit.

Modern materials such as polished concrete along with the bold planting scheme set this garden apart from its neighbours.

As indicated, this design includes a smooth rendered, 2 metre high, wall, a stainless steel water feature, smooth rendered bench, resin bound paving to the entertaining area, natural sandstone stepping stones and a brick and sandstone firepit.

To find out more about Gardens in a Box UK and The Modern Garden, why not visit www.gardensinaboxuk.com ?

Gardens in a Box UK - Family Garden

As introduced in yesterday's blog, Gardens ina Box UK is the new subsidiary of Orchard Priory Limited which looks to provide a simplified, out of the box, landscaping product.

We are going to look at each of the six concept garden design available through Gardens in a Box UK on this blog, over the course of this week. The first is The Family Garden.

This garden utilises the space available to create a robust, useful garden which includes elements for all ages as well as outdoor storage.

The materials are cost effective but arranged in such a way as to provide an attractive space with items such as bins, shed and vegetable beds screened behind planting.



There are plenty of opportunities for play with a large lawn and seperate play equipment.

This design includes items such as a concrete base for a shed, a brick built barbeque with cooking grill and briquette tray, two raised vegetable beds and a childrens play area finished with play-safe hardwood chippings.

For more information on Gardens in a Box UK and the Family Garden, why not visit www.gardensinaboxuk.com ?

Gardens in a Box UK - Your dream garden. Simply.

We are delighted to have launched our subsidiary company; Gardens in a Box UK.

Gardens in a Box UK is an innovative new way for you to have your perfect garden, built by a professional landscape design company,whilst reducing both the time and cost involved in the traditional garden design process.


The Modern Garden (above) is one of six garden concepts

This is achieved by Gardens in a Box UK offering a choice of six, pre-designed, concept gardens for you to choose from thus removing a major part of the traditional design process.

Gardens in a Box UK will then meet with you to briefly discuss your choice with you and to make certain that you are happy before carrying out a site survey, producing an individual garden masterplan and carrying out the landscaping works.

We have shown two of the six concept designs in this blog entry, The Modern Garden and The Formal Garden.

We will be looking at each in more detail in future blog postings but if you cannot wait to see the others then please visit the Gardens in a Box UK website at: www.gardensinaboxuk.com

The Formal Garden (above) is another of the concept designs

Holiday Let in Hockley Sole - Completed

We have now completed works at the Holiday Let and we hope that you will agree when we say we believe the results are stunning.

Having raised the level of the terrace, we have now created the outdoor living room by raising it again from the main terrace and installing the circular rattan furniture and table.

The first image is taken looking down across the living room across to the house and far corner of the garden.

The terrace and living room have been finished with Breedon Gravel and a couple of small planting beds have been created to ensure that this level 'feels' like a part of the garden.

The second picture looks back up to the terrace from the lawn and shows the beautiful wire fencing, rebuilt steps and feature planting.

We will revist this premises in a few weeks when the planting will have had a chance to establish itself and should be providing some vibrant colour.

Holiday Let at Hockley Sole - Steps and Fencing

I thought it was about time we revisited the job at the Holiday Let in the Alkham Valley.

In the last blog entry we were building the oak sleeper retaining wall and the new lawn had been laid.

We have now repaired and dressed the steps using red brick and reclaimed york stone as you can see in the picture to the left.

The wire rigging fencing is going in and you can see the first sections of it in the second picture here.

We are feeding the wire through the oak posts which will give a lovely contrast of the traditional with the modern.

As you can also see from these photo's, the terrace is being levelled so that the outdoor living room can be created.

Terraced Garden in Sandgate - Completed

We have now completed phase 1 of our project in Sandgate. The previous blog entries have dealt with the various works required included in the creation of a larger, more family friendly space.

The image to the left shows the garden as we leave it at this time, including the sand pit and play area.

The swing set has been constructed using reclaimed, Chestnut hop poles which were around 80 years old.
The poles have been stripped and sanded and it is a testament to the integrity of the timber that they have come up looking like new.

The levelling of this garden caused one or two issues. When digging up the existing garden we found that the drainage for the property was only 100mm below the soil. We have had to re-route the drainage whilst installing a soakaway beneath the new lawn level.

Phase 2 of this project is set to include the installation of Balau decking to the terrace level (the paved area in the photo) and the cladding on the sides of the terrace. Glass screening is to be fitted to an upper balcony terrace to provide an effective safety barrier without intruding on the breathtaking views across the garden to the sea beyond.

Holiday Let at Hockley Sole - Creating the Terrace

As I'm sure you will remember from the first entry regarding this project, the garden is on two levels and it is our intent to raise the upper level to increase the definition between the two.

The pictures included in this post show how we are achieving that.

The first image shows the existing levels and a new, oak sleeper retaining wall that we have installed in front of the original brick wall.


The second picture shows the brick wall while clearly demonstrating that the new oak sleeper wall has been built to create a new, circular shape to this end of the terrace.

The sleeper wall will provide a new and complimentary colour within the garden, a visual feature that is both structurally essential in supporting the raised and re-shaped terrace but
also asthetically pleasing.

The final picture looks towards the terrace from the lower garden where the new turf has now been laid.

We now have our very modern wire rigging fencing to install along with the dressing of the existing steps. More pictures next week.

Terraced Garden in Sandgate - Update 3

Works are nearly done for Phase 1 of our terraced garden in Sandgate.

We have now completed the terrace circle by installing stainless steel edging and using Breedon Gravel to create an attractive finish.

The first picture shows the finished circle, we now cannot wait to come back and see this area of the garden once the planting has all had the opportunity to establish itself.

The second picture shows the view from the terrace circle along the garden.

The far right corner is where the huge drop used to be but, as you can see, a beautifully level lawn has been installed along with the lovely Chelsea Screens.

A border has been created in front of the screen to lead from the terrace circle into the rest of the garden.

You can see at the far end of the garden that the play area is still lacking the equipment, this is now one of last things we need to complete. More photo's in the near future.

Holiday Let at Hockley Sole

We are a few days into a new job converting a small garden for a holiday let cottage in the Alkham Valley, Kent.

The garden is on two levels with steps between them. We will be making the top level higher and incorporating an outdoor living room, re-laying the stairs, installing a new lawn and some very smart yacht rigging wire fencing.

The Images show the early stages of creating the levels and an even surface for the lawn turf to be laid upon.

This job is being completed within a small time frame so more pictures will follow soon.

A Year On at Oriel

It is our intent to show you how our gardens are realised through this blog. As such we will be revisiting completed projects to see how the gardens are developing and growing.

We completed the Oriel job in March 2011, you can view some pics and read about the works on the Orchard Priory website here.

The photos to the left were taken in May 2012.

The first image shows the 'Brick Cottage Garden' which was designed to be a colourful, rural space. The borders are staring to come into bloom while the ground level planting is growing nicely.

The second image shows a reclaimed York Stone pathway lined with fragrant lavender and leading to an ornate bench seat. A hole has been cut in the Beech hedging to provide views of the beautiful Kent countryside as you walk along the path.

We will try to get some further pictures of this project when the plants are in full bloom and will be sure to show them here. 

Terraced Garden in Sandgate - update 2

Just thought we would give you a couple of images of works during the second week.

As you can see, the garden has now been levelled and the terrace lined with a new treated sleeper wall which will be clad in Balau hardwood in the second stage of works at this premises.

The frames and bases are in place (at the far end of the top picture) for some play equipment and a sand pit.

The lower picture shows a newly installed terraced rockery around a small terrace circle.

Ragstone steps have been placed to lead down from the terrace to the circle.

Some planting has been put in place and you can clearly now see the garden taking shape.

The remaining works include the turfing of the lawn, building and installation of the play equipment, installation of Chelsea Screens and completion of the terrace circle. We will provide images of the finished first stage shortly so come back soon!

Terraced Garden in Sandgate - update 1

Works are now nicely underway at our job in Sandgate so I thought I would show you a couple of pictures of us making a mess!

The initial stages of works are the worst for a client as we have to deconstruct what is already in place.

This phase is, fortunately, very short lived and it is not long until you can see the structure of the new garden taking shape.

The top image shows our project manager, Mark, using the digger to turn over the existing lawn to expose the sides of the terrace and to get down to the level of the planned lawn.

The second picture shows two members of the Orchard Priory team, Matt H and Tom, starting to create the new lawn level.

Further updates soon!

Terraced Garden in Sandgate

We have recently started work on a terraced garden for a domestic customer in Sandgate, Kent.

The pictures to the left show the garden prior to the commencement of works.

As you can see this is a very sloped space, the height difference between the terrace around the house and the bottom corner of the garden is actually over 6 metres.

Our remit for this garden is to create a usable, family space which is also interesting and inviting to children.

We intend to create a larger lawn area by filling in the lowest section of the existing garden (which can be seen on the right of the second picture).

Look back soon for some 'work in progress' pictures.

Welcome to the Orchard Priory blog

Welcome to the brand new Orchard Priory blogpage.

Through this blog we will keep you updated with the projects we are working on and how they are progressing.

We will show you images of the projects as they are carried out and will even provide photos and information about past projects to show how the gardens have developed and grown since we left site.

We will provide news about the comapny and staff and hopefully keep this an interesting blog to read.

Happy reading.