Natural Stone Terrace with Brick Detailing & Curved Garden Screen
Make the new terrace feel part of the garden
The new paved areas needed to provide useful outdoor space while sitting comfortably within an established garden rather than overpowering it.
Natural stone would form the main terrace, but the surrounding transitions were just as important. Brick retaining, gravel and bark zones, prepared planting areas and the curved screen all needed to relate to one another so the edges of the terrace felt resolved rather than simply finished.
What We Needed to Solve
The main challenge was not the size of the paved area, but the number of junctions around it.
Natural stone covered the principal sitting spaces, while brick runners, low retaining walls, gravel transitions and the curved screen introduced narrower lines around the perimeter. Those details needed accurate setting-out so they felt intentional rather than fragmented.
The paving also had to be formed with controlled falls towards the surrounding lawn and beds, meaning drainage, levels and material transitions all had to work together.
Use the brickwork to organise the edges
Our Approach
We cleared and excavated the working areas, established the finished levels and formed concrete foundations for the new brickwork.
Low retaining walls, brick-on-edge copings and linear brick runners were then introduced through the terrace layout, creating a consistent detail between the natural stone and the surrounding garden. Where the walls retain soil, the rear faces were protected as part of the construction.
The natural-stone paving was built over stabilising membrane and compacted Type 1, with each slab primed and installed on a full mortar bed. Falls were formed through the paving before the joints were completed with resin jointing material.
Around the terrace, a curved slatted hardwood screen, gravel and bark surfacing, timber mowing edge and prepared planting beds completed the transition into the established landscape.
Behind the Finish
The narrow brick lines and clean paving junctions only work because each element has its own properly prepared foundation.
The natural stone sits over a compacted sub-base and full mortar support, while the brick retaining walls were formed on concrete foundations and protected where they hold soil.
The curved hardwood screen was also fixed through concreted posts and durable metal connections, giving the lighter-looking boundary feature a stable structure below ground.
The Finished Result
The new terrace now sits much more naturally within the established garden.
Natural stone provides the main usable surface, while the brick runners and retaining details break up the larger paved areas and connect them visually with the warmer materials around the garden.
The curved hardwood screen gives the boundary a softer transition, and the gravel, bark and prepared planting areas prevent the terrace from ending abruptly at its edges.
The result is a substantial paved space that still feels connected to the mature garden around it.
Before & After
Project Details
- Services delivered
- Clearance and excavation; paving set-out and drainage falls; natural-stone paving; brick retaining construction; slatted screen construction; gravel and bark surfacing; planting-bed preparation
- Key materials
- Natural stone; brick; hardwood slats; stabilising membrane; Type 1 foundation material; mortar; resin jointing; gravel; bark; geotextile membrane
- Specialist elements
- Full-bed natural-stone paving; integrated brick retaining and runner details; curved slatted hardwood screen
Key Features
- Natural-stone terrace installed on full mortar beds
- Linear brick runners
- Brick-on-edge coping details
- Protected brick retaining walls
- Curved slatted hardwood screen
- Gravel and bark transition zones
- Prepared planting beds
- Timber mowing edge
Project Gallery
Adding a new terrace to an established garden?
A new patio does not have to feel separate from the rest of the landscape. HDL can coordinate the paving, levels, retaining work, drainage, edging and surrounding materials so the new terrace relates naturally to the garden already around it.