Keyscape Design And Construction Ltd

Here at Keyscape we are proud of our landscaping achievements, none more so than our show gardens.

Working with some of the countries top designers including Chris Beardshaw and Ali Ward we have built some 7 award winning gardens at many of the top gardening shows.

We know from the feed back that we have received, show gardens give pleasure to many garden enthusiasts.
The interest these gardens generate with their ideas and planting combinations inspire and push forward the ideals of good design and quality craftsmanship.

Image to the left was taken at The Chelsea Flowershow 2005

A garden is a relaxing yet challenging place. It provides privacy and seclusion, it demands discipline and dedication and it offers almost unlimited creative freedom.
Let us help you discover the very best from your garden so that you will not just derive the maximum pleasure from your garden but enjoy the finest quality workmanship and materials together with the most exquisite planting.

Every garden is individual and every customer requires something different from his or her garden. No two gardens will ever be the same.
At Keyscape we listen to what you want, then we use or expert knowledge and understanding of good design to produce a layout that not only works for you but looks stunning too.

Gardens we have designed and constructed include:

Wood can add warmth, beauty and character to a garden. It can add height through arches and pergolas, it can provide secluded areas for seating with arbours and gazebos or it can be used as the warm and friendly surface, decking.
We love to use wood in our gardens, like gardening itself it is life affirming.

Let us design and create pieces for your garden.

We use pergolas to obscure unsightly views, hanging them with scented fragrant plants to get maximum enjoyment and we ensure they ‘go’ somewhere, we feel there’s nothing worse than a dead end.

Our bespoke decking is a thing of beauty and infinite possibility.

You don’t necessarily need a change of level but if you do our decking can provide beautiful steps and terraces turning a problem site into a magnificent stage.

If you want privacy our beautiful wooden gates and timber fencing will afford you seclusion from passing eyes.
We use the finest latches and hinges to ensure your gate remains hung.

All our timber is sourced from properly managed forests where natural regeneration and reforestation programmes ensure a perpetual harvest.

Probably one of the most important decisions you can make is where, how much and what sort. It could become very expensive if you get this wrong.

Let us take the worry way and let you concentrate on enjoying your new space.
We’ll ensure that your drive is wide enough to get your car on, and get out without falling into the flowerbed, your paths leads somewhere and that your patio is big enough for your table and chairs.

When choosing materials for these hard landscape elements in your garden we like to keep it simple. The materials used for your paths, drives and patios should compliment your house, too many materials and your garden can become too bitty. We also think practically, cobbles look great, but are no good for a patio when tables and chairs will wobble.

Whether you prefer natural stone such as Indian sandstone or cost effective but equally effective, reproduction moulded concrete slabs we will ensure that the features built will be to the highest build quality ensuring you pleasure long into the future.

There are few gardens that are truly level.

Walls and steps play an important role in getting you from one area to another, safely and comfortable, but they can also add interest and drama to a space.
Retaining walls often mean that areas that were too steep to enjoy can, once terraced, become a magnificent stage.

Once again choosing materials for these hard landscape elements in your garden is an important decision.

Steps should be constructed so that they do not rise too steeply and the treads designed to be wide enough to walk comfortably.
Walls should compliment the walls of your house.

A water feature, often thought of a one of those little luxuries, though not essential to the over-all plan, can add atmosphere and mood, a sense of place. A pond or small lake can however become the central feature on which the rest of the design will hang. Whether still or running water, formal or informal when done well water features can take a garden into another dimension.

A stream or spring will breathe life into a garden, however there are few gardens with such wonderful natural resources available. We love to use water in our gardens and we wouldn’t limit you to a naturalistic stream. Our bespoke water features will catch the mood of your of garden and the character and style you are trying to create, whether it is needs a pool or pond, sink or fountain, rill or waterfall.

We can deal with the technical stuff too. Such as what size pump to have and how much water to have in the system. How deep does it need to be for fish and plants? How do you stop the water from disappearing?

Just recently, lighting has come into its own. What a great way to make your garden more useable and enjoyable than some beautifully designed and crafted lights placed discreetly and appropriately around your garden.

Now not only available as white light but coloured with LED in reds, blues and greens you can extend your evening entertainment with accent, spot or flood lighting.

We can include lighting it your design at the planning stage so that you get the very best from your garden.

Can a garden be a garden if it doesn’t have plants? Here at Keyscape we don’t think so. Whilst the importance of landscaping in a garden cannot be underestimated it is a static feature.

The planting scheme however gives the garden it’s spirit and personality.

Using our expertise we can create a planting plan to achieve the right balance between the time you have available to maintain your plot and achieving the look you require.

We’ll be able to ensure you have a succession from one flower to the next throughout the year.

We can ensure you have the right plant for the right place so that you don’t make expensive and costly mistakes such as planting a sun loving plant in a shady corner.

We will be able to advise on where best to put those exciting feature plants, including trees, which bring the garden to life, and we’ll ensure your planting has structure so that in the dull winter months you still have something interesting to look at.

We will be able to provide you with appropriate sizes and quantities of plants so that borders look neither crammed or gappy.

We haven’t forgotten about lawns either. As a design feature a lawn can be invaluable. They provide lush green swathes in mid winter, are fairly easy to maintain, require little care and nourishment and lend themselves to any shape.

We’ll advise on the best sward available.

How We Work – click here for details

Keyscape About Us

rupert keys

Rupert started as a young lad working for Cheltenham Parks Department as a labouring gardener. Having learnt the basics from the roots, Rupert went on to do a full time course at Pershore College of Horticulture.

Whilst at college Rupert was a major team player in building the award wining show garden ‘The Greening of Industry’ at the 1992 Chelsea Flower Show. The first and only year a group of students have won Best in Show and the Fiskar Sword of Excellence.

Since leaving college Rupert set up Keyscape Design and Construction back in 1993 joined by his wife Ruth Gwynn in 1999. Bitten by the bug of show gardens Rupert has gone on to build many award wining show gardens at some of the top gardening shows in the country.

Rupert has also been the landscape expert on many BBC gardening programmes both on camera and behind the scenes. TV appearances include Real Rake-Overs, Flying Gardener, Housecall and Weekend Gardener. He has also been asked to contribute to articles for the gardening magazine Gardening Which?

ruth gwynn

Ruth pursued her interest in design by attending Hereford Art College, where she trained in general art and design. After several years working in the fashion and graphic world she went back to her old love, gardening. Ruth was determined to learn the basics so started as a worker in a house plant nursery. After a year she enrolled on a full-time landscape design course at Pershore College of Horticulture.

After graduating she worked for a the leading garden designer Julian Dowle before joining a large multi national engineering company, Halcrow. Whilst working for Halcrow she studied to become a landscape architect leaving with a post graduate diploma in Landscape Architecture (Dip LA ) in1996.

Now Ruth undertakes much of the design work for Keyscape. She is passionate about plants and good design.