A small family firm that also knows how to run a school's grounds.

Most firms in this trade do one thing. They either build gardens or they cut grass. Ace of Spades Landscapes has always done both, and the two halves feed each other: the crew who lay your patio are the same people who know how to verti-drain a compacted lawn, restore a worn pitch, mark out a run-up and keep a site presentable right through a school year.

On the domestic side that means complete garden creation, from the first conversation about what you want through a drawn plan and a written quote to the last plant going in — patios, block paved drives, turfing and seeding, decking, fencing, soil retainment, ponds and planting. On the commercial side it means grounds maintenance rounds for clients that have ranged from schools and colleges in Essex and Cambridgeshire to private estates and business premises.

The company is a small family-run business. Paul Robson is the proprietor, and all specialist works are overseen by him personally — the drainage schemes, the athletics pits and run-ups, the pitch and tennis court restoration, the safety surfacing. Staff are continuously trained, and we are happy to talk you through who will actually be on your site before anyone arrives.

We have always cared about what happens to what we take away. All waste removed from a site goes on to be recycled, so nothing we take off your garden or your grounds is illegally disposed of or sent to landfill. And when we price a job we make every effort to meet the needs of the customer and their budget — on a small patio at Bishop's Stortford the whole job came in on the figure the client had set, and it still went down on a properly prepared base.