When we moved into our house the garden wasn't so much a garden as a mudslide with a fence around it. My landscaping experience is limited to say the least (I grew some cress on some blotting paper at school once - does that count?) so there was no way I was going to attempt a 'Ground Force' style job.

A quick Google search found Jim at Acme Landscaping so we rang him up and arranged for him to come over and take a look at the dislodged soil and wonky wall we laughingly called our garden.

Jim measured up, chatted to us a bit about the kind of thing we were after and went away. Three days later he emailed us a few drawings of something which resembled a real garden that you could sit in and everything: planters, benches, flowers...the works!

We booked him in pretty much immediately and three weeks later Joma dn his team moved in and started work.

A week later it was all done and now we have a fantastic garden, and I can't wait for the first signs of summer so i have an excuse to break out the barbecue (I realise I'm turning into my dad, but I don't care).

If you're in London and your garden looks like a bomb site go and have a look at Jim's website. He's really helpful, friendly and (as far as I can tell) not all that expensive.