Landscapers in Diss
Garden renovation, maintenance, patios and fencing on the Norfolk and Suffolk border.
Landscaping in Diss
Hilton & Green Landscaping is a family-run landscaping firm based at Long Stratton, about a dozen miles up the A140 from Diss, working in the town and the villages around it on both sides of the Norfolk and Suffolk border.
Diss is a characterful market town on the River Waveney, built around the Mere, with plenty of older, established properties and a countryside full of rural homes and cottages with mature gardens. Much of our work here is renovation: gardens with good structure that need bringing up to date. We also carry out regular garden maintenance for ongoing customers in and around the town.
Villages we cover around Diss
We work in Diss and the villages around it, and over the Waveney into North Suffolk.
- Roydon
- Scole
- Palgrave
- Bressingham
- Burston
- Dickleburgh
- Winfarthing
- Wortham
- Brome
- Hoxne
- Eye
- Harleston
Renovating established gardens
A lot of gardens around Diss have good bones: mature trees, old walls, established hedges and borders that were planted well a long time ago. The job is usually to bring them back rather than start again: reworking tired patios, lifting and relaying paving, laying new paths that suit the age of the house, clearing and replanting overgrown borders, and restoring lawns that have thinned under trees.
Older and rural properties often throw up their own quirks, from awkward access for materials to walls and boundaries that need thinking about. That is where doing the work ourselves matters: Ben and Ed can adapt as the job goes rather than working to a rigid template.
Once a garden is back in shape, it needs keeping that way. Some customers have us back on a regular visit through the year, which is often the easiest way to stop a mature garden getting away from you again.
Our services in Diss
Every service we offer, for homes in and around Diss
The ground around Diss
The higher ground around Diss is the same heavy clay that runs across south Norfolk and north Suffolk, and it behaves the same way: wet and sticky through the winter, hard and cracked in a dry summer. Patios and paths need a properly compacted sub-base, and borders usually need the soil opening up before new planting goes in.
Down towards the Waveney the ground is lower and can stay damp for much of the year. Levels and drainage are planned so a new patio or path is not sitting in water each winter, and planting is chosen for moist ground rather than fighting it.
Planning, listed homes and the county border
Diss is in South Norfolk, so planning goes to South Norfolk Council and highways to Norfolk County Council. Across the river, villages such as Palgrave, Wortham, Hoxne and Eye are in Mid Suffolk, with Suffolk County Council as the highway authority. The rules are the same on both sides; the council you apply to is not.
The centre of Diss is a conservation area, and there are a lot of listed and period homes in the town and the villages around it. At a listed building, a new wall, fence or gate within its grounds needs planning permission, and work that touches the building itself needs listed building consent. In a conservation area you must give the council six weeks’ notice before cutting back or felling most trees (any with a trunk more than 75mm across, measured 1.5 metres up). A tree with a Tree Preservation Order needs the council’s consent first.
Fences, walls and gates up to 2 metres high normally need no planning permission. Beside a road used by vehicles, or the footpath of one, the limit is 1 metre, which is why a tall front boundary often needs an application. Paving over more than 5 square metres of a front garden needs planning permission unless the surface is permeable, such as gravel, permeable block paving or resin-bound stone, or the water runs off onto a lawn or border. A new or widened dropped kerb needs approval from the county council as highway authority.
Hedges and trees are best cut outside the main bird nesting season, which runs from March to August. Damaging an active nest is an offence at any time of year.
Questions from Diss customers
Have a question not answered here? Get in touch and we will be happy to help.
Do you work on the Suffolk side of the border too?
Yes. We work in Diss and across the Waveney into North Suffolk, including Palgrave, Wortham, Hoxne, Eye, Harleston, Bungay, Beccles and Halesworth.
Can you renovate an established garden rather than start again?
Yes. Much of our work around Diss is renovation: reworking patios, lifting and relaying paving, and clearing and replanting overgrown borders so a garden with good bones comes back to life.
My house is listed. Can I still have a new fence or patio?
Usually, but a new wall, fence or gate within the grounds of a listed building needs planning permission, and anything touching the building needs listed building consent. It is worth speaking to South Norfolk or Mid Suffolk Council before work is booked.
Do you offer regular garden maintenance in Diss?
Yes. We carry out regular maintenance for ongoing customers in and around Diss. Get in touch to talk through what your garden needs.
Our garden is near the river and stays wet. Can it be landscaped?
Yes. We plan the levels and drainage so paving does not sit in water, and choose plants that like moist soil.
How do I get a quote in Diss?
Call or WhatsApp 07721 696 554, email hello@hiltonandgreenlandscaping.co.uk, or send the form on our contact page. Quotes are free and carry no obligation anywhere in Norfolk and Suffolk.
In our customers' words
Genuine reviews from clients across Norfolk and Suffolk
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★★★★★
Ben and Ed at Hilton & Green have done amazing and difficult landscaping jobs for me in the past few years, from erecting a fence close to the house in a challenging setting, to a transformational soft landscaping project at the rear of the sloping garden. The guys are very professional and the results are stunning. I highly recommend Hilton & Green for your landscaping requirements.
George Smithon Google
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★★★★★
Hilton and Green Landscaping have done wonders to our driveway and fencing. Their work is competent and professional. They are both very friendly and knowledgeable in how to make your ideas practical.
Scott Leamonon Google
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★★★★★
We are so pleased we found Ben and Edd to put in our new patio. They have done an awesome job. They are two of the nicest people we have met and their work is exemplary. From start to finish the guys were brilliant at their work and the end result is awesome. Would highly recommend Hilton and Green to everyone. Two thumbs up for excellent work!
Su Eyleson Google
Other places we work
Beyond Diss, we work regularly in Norwich, Long Stratton and Wymondham, and across Norfolk and Suffolk from the North Norfolk coast to the Suffolk border.
Planning work on a garden in Diss?
Free, no-obligation quotes. Tell us about your garden and we will talk it through.