I'm Alfie. I build gardens.

The short version

I started out at sixteen as the youngest on site for a landscaping firm in Surrey. I worked for them for five years, then for a bigger firm in west London for another four. Last year I went out on my own.

Ten years sounds like a long time, and to me it is. I've laid a few hundred patios. I've put up a few miles of fencing. I've designed and built gardens for clients who knew exactly what they wanted, and clients who hadn't a clue. There's a pattern I've noticed in good jobs: the prep is always over-engineered, the materials are always sensible rather than fashionable, and nobody is in a rush.

Why I went solo

Working for a bigger firm, you don't get to talk to the client much. You turn up, do the job, leave. I missed the bit at the start where you walk round the garden and figure out together what would actually work. And I missed the bit at the end where you hand over a finished garden and the owner sees it for the first time.

The business is small on purpose. I take a small number of jobs a year, do them properly, and stay close to the work. If you want a contractor with thirty trucks and a sales team, I'm not your man. If you want one person responsible for the design, the build and the aftercare, I am.

How I work

• Honest pricing

  Every quote is itemised. You see what each part costs. If a slab range is dearer than you expected, we can swap it. If a part of the job is cheaper than you expected, you keep the difference.

• One person responsible

  The person who quotes the job is the person who builds it. There's no project manager who only visits on Tuesdays.

• Tidy at the end of every day

  Tools away, materials covered, site swept. You shouldn't dread me being on your driveway for two weeks.

• Materials chosen for your garden, not the catalogue

  SW London is wet. Some patio materials handle that better than others. I'll always recommend what suits the site, not what makes me the best margin.

Insurance and qualifications

I carry public liability insurance and can share the certificate on request. I'm happy to talk through any specific qualifications if it's relevant to your job.

Areas I cover

I'm based in Teddington and work across South West London. Most of my jobs are within a fifteen minute drive of Teddington station: Twickenham, Kingston, Hampton, Hampton Hill, Hampton Wick, Strawberry Hill, St Margarets, Whitton, Surbiton, New Malden, Worcester Park, Richmond, East Sheen, Mortlake, Barnes, Putney, Wimbledon and Raynes Park. See the full list of areas covered.