Somerset, BS26
Landscaping and property maintenance in Axbridge
Two miles south, over the county line into Somerset, on the shelf between the Mendip scarp and the Levels.
About 2 miles from Winscombe
The ground in Axbridge
Axbridge is old, tight and built into the slope. The square and the lanes off it are historic, and a lot of the property is listed or in the conservation area, which changes what may be done to it. Materials matter more here than anywhere else in the coverage area, and so does knowing when a job needs consent before it needs a quote.
The town sits right on the break of slope. Uphill is limestone and steep. Downhill, within a few hundred metres, is the flat of the Levels with a water table that comes up in winter. A patio laid on the low ground without thinking about where the water goes will move.
Note for anyone checking their council: Axbridge is Somerset, not North Somerset. Different authority, different planning portal.
What Tom is most often asked for in Axbridge
All seven services are available across the whole coverage area. These are ordered by what the ground and the buildings in Axbridge tend to need.
- Retaining wallsRailway sleeper and dry stone retaining walls that hold a slope properly, with steps built into them.
- PatiosIndian sandstone, slate and reclaimed stone laid on a proper base, with the falls set so water leaves the house.
- House maintenanceThe list of jobs a property builds up. Fencing, gates, roofs on outbuildings, sheds, repairs and the odd thing nobody else will take on.
- LandscapingWhole gardens designed and built, from clearance and levelling through to planting, turfing and clipped hedging.
Recent work
The kind of thing this looks like
Photographs of Tom's own work. Not necessarily taken in Axbridge, they are jobs from across North Somerset and the Mendip villages, chosen here because they show the work this page is about.
Dry stone terracing with steps and a slab bridge 
Courtyard paving, planted up 
Stone edged gravel garden
Nearby
Tom covers these too, and the villages in between them.