Landscape Gardener?

[minibmw2010]

How do I go about getting recommendations for a landscape gardener? Our garden has a huge slope in it, together with the added complication of a lovely huge oak tree with a preservation order on it.

It's always been a problem but one we've always put off and off but we now have a DS (20 wks) who come next Summer will be on the move and I want to at least investigate whether there is anything we can try to do to level any of it out and make it more family friendly.

DH has said (rather wearily while thinking of the cost I assume) fine let's get someone in and get some quotes/ideas. I know it's going to cost but I don't know how I'll be able to keep DS safe next year other than keeping us inside the House all the time.

Any suggestions welcome, we are North Essex way.

I am also in North Essex, near Saffron Walden. I know of several companies in the area if you are close to there. TBH, I'd just look at Yell.com, get a local paper/parish magazine or whatever and look for ads and make some calls. Watch out though, because some companies will do you a basic design/ideas for free, but some charge for design if you don't take the work forward.

Flattening a slope is a major operation - usually huge machinery at vast expense I'm afraid. I know someone locally who needs to deal with a slope in her garden and some of the quotes she has had are faint-worthy due to the engineering/sheer excavation required. In the short term can you somehow make the slope out of bounds to DS? He will only just have turned one next year, so presumably you wouldn't have him in the garden unsupervised at that point so you have a bit more time to play with?

Good luck.