Bespoke garden design, planting & landscaping · Chorleywood & the Chalfonts, Buckinghamshire
A garden designed by someone who trained to read it.
Your Garden Project is a design-led garden studio run by Steve, working out of Chorleywood across Rickmansworth, the Chalfonts and Gerrards Cross. After thirty years in film and television, Steve took a second degree in Horticulture at Writtle College — so every scheme is grounded in a real understanding of soil, aspect and how a planting matures. On Google, every one of our 21 reviews is five stars.
Every one of our 21 Google reviews is 5 stars · Horticulture, Writtle College · Chorleywood
5.0 ★ · 21 reviews
every Google review is five stars
Horticulture degree
Writtle College, Chelmsford
Design & planting-led
concept, palette, planting, build
Chorleywood based
the Chalfonts & Rickmansworth
Owner-led · Chorleywood · Your Garden Project
A second career built entirely around plants.
Most garden firms grow out of the building trade. Your Garden Project grew out of a change of life. Steve spent thirty years working in film and television, then went back to study — a full second degree in Horticulture at Writtle College in Chelmsford — because he wanted to understand gardens properly, not just tidy them. That training is the difference you feel: schemes designed around soil, aspect and how a planting will read across the seasons, not just what looks good on the day it goes in.
It's a design-led studio, so most projects start on paper. A two-hour consultation and written summary, a hand-drawn or CAD concept, a plant palette curated to your soil and brief — then, if you want it built, the paving, structures, planting and lawns to bring it to life. Every review on our Google profile is five stars, and clients tend to write about the same thing: a garden that keeps getting better the longer it's in the ground.
Trained to read a garden
A full second degree in Horticulture at Writtle College means schemes designed around your soil and aspect — and how the planting will mature — not just how it looks the day it goes in.
Design, then build
Consultation, concept drawing and plant palette come first; paving, structures, planting and lawns follow if you want them built. You can commission any stage on its own.
Certified where it counts
All electrical work — for garden lighting and automated irrigation — is carried out by a NICEIC-registered contractor, so the connections are certified to the proper standard.
What we do
From first consultation
to planting to mentoring.
01
Garden consultation & written summary
A two-hour session on site covering design, materials, planting, maintenance and lawn advice — written up so you can act on it, with or without us.
02
Concept drawing
A hand-drawn or CAD design concept for the proposed garden layout — the plan the whole project is built around.
03
Plant palette
A curated plant selection document tailored to your soil, aspect and brief — the right plants, chosen properly.
04
IRIS · HEBE · VERBENA — health-checks, reports & mentoring
Verbal garden health-checks, written assessment reports and hands-on practical mentoring — support scaled to how much you want to do yourself.
05
Paving — natural stone & porcelain
Natural Indian sandstone and porcelain terraces, laid true and to falls so they drain clean and sit level for years.
06
Hardwood decking
Yellow Balau (Bangkirai) hardwood decks — a warm, hard-wearing timber terrace built to weather beautifully.
07
Garden structures
Raised beds, pergolas, balustrades, railings, bespoke steps, window boxes and arbours — the joinery that gives a garden shape.
08
Water features
Design and installation of water features, including waterfalls — movement, sound and reflection built into the garden.
Why clients name Steve by name
“I can't recommend Steve from Your Garden Project highly enough! He was absolutely amazing to work with. His knowledge is incredible, and he collaborated with me perfectly on the plant choices. Seeing the garden in full colour this year is truly amazing - it looks even better than it does in these photos!”
★★★★★ — House Green, via Google · June 2026
Recent work
Real Chorleywood & Chalfont gardens, in clients' words.
A garden collaborated on plant by plant
“His knowledge is incredible, and he collaborated with me perfectly on the plant choices. Seeing the garden in full colour this year is truly amazing — it looks even better than it does in these photos!”
★★★★★ — House Green, via Google · June 2026
A planting palette that worked perfectly
“The garden palette of ideas for planting that Steve provided & ideas of things he thought would work well in the different areas of the garden has worked perfectly.”
★★★★★ — Louise Wiley, via Google
Designed in autumn, planted out in spring
“Steve has done a fantastic job in transforming my garden. From the initial design phase in autumn last year, through to planting it all out this spring, he has been helpful with advice and suggestions to create a wonderful space.”
★★★★★ — Clare, via Google
A small space totally transformed
“The plants chosen and ordered for me are perennial and low maintenance; they provide colour and interest all year round and have totally transformed this small space… The design and plants receive much admiration and praise, even from passersby.”
★★★★★ — Arti Kumar, via Google
How it works
Concept, planting, mentoring — your choice of stage.
01
Consultation & concept
It starts with a two-hour consultation on site — a written summary covering design, materials, planting, maintenance and lawn advice. From there Steve draws up a concept for the layout, by hand or in CAD, and a plant palette curated to your soil, aspect and brief. You can take any of these as a standalone piece of work, or as the first stage of a full project.
02
Planting & landscaping
When a design is ready to build, the studio takes it on: natural stone and porcelain paving, hardwood decking, pergolas and bespoke structures, retaining walls, water features, fencing, irrigation and lighting, then the planting and lawns themselves. Plants are sourced through wholesale trade nursery accounts and quality-checked before they reach your garden.
03
Mentoring & aftercare
Not everyone wants the whole thing done for them. Through our IRIS, HEBE and VERBENA packages, Steve offers verbal health-checks, written garden reports and hands-on practical mentoring — three or more hours of gardening alongside you. Gift vouchers are available for all mentoring and consultation packages.
In their words
Twenty-one reviews. Every one, five stars.
Verbatim from our Google profile, where Your Garden Project holds a perfect 5 ★ across 21 reviews.
“My experience of Steve's advice in choosing the planting scheme for our garden was simply excellent in every way... The garden palette of ideas for planting that Steve provided & ideas of things he thought would work well in the different areas of the garden has worked perfectly.”
“Steve has done a fantastic job in transforming my garden. From the initial design phase in autumn last year, through to planting it all out this spring, he has been helpful with advice and suggestions to create a wonderful space.”
“Highly recommend Steve... Steve's service, quality of work and punctuality was excellent from start to finish and we are super happy with the end result!”
“Everything was carried out reliably with attention to detail. The plants chosen and ordered for me are perennial and low maintenance; they provide colour and interest all year round and have totally transformed this small space... The design and plants receive much admiration and praise, even from…”
Where we work
Chorleywood based, right across the Chalfonts.
From a base on Whitelands Avenue in Chorleywood, Your Garden Project works across Little Chalfont, Chalfont St Peter, Chalfont Heights, Rickmansworth and Gerrards Cross — with named projects completed right across the area. Being genuinely local means understanding the local soils and aspects, and being close enough to see how a planting establishes over the seasons. A small travel charge of 50p per mile applies to consultations outside WD3.
- Chorleywood
- Little Chalfont
- Chalfont St Peter
- Chalfont Heights
- Rickmansworth
- Gerrards Cross
Planning something for the garden?
Send the details and Steve will come back to you.