It was quite by serendipity that we first discovered Cotswolds Estates and Gardens Ltd. There was a feature in the local paper about one of their staff receiving a long service award and this encouraged us to Google their website. We were initially impressed by their Investor in People accreditation and also their emphasis on health and safety. Clearly, they looked after their staff, and this was an important factor for us. We then proceeded to contact Joe Watson, who was most helpful and agreed on an early visit with a view to discussing our ideas and preparing some outline plans. We wanted a garden that had an Italianate theme and that we could enjoy pottering around in when we retired. Indeed, we wanted Cotswolds Estates and Gardens to turn our vision into reality, and this is just what they did! We were delighted with the outline plans, which they then carried through to the hard landscaping and planting. No project is without some setbacks and we had to make some adjustments along the way. They were most accommodating in factoring these into the scheme and we were really pleased with the end result, completed on one of our birthdays. The scheme was so successful that Cotswolds Estates and Gardens Ltd decided to enter our scheme into the BALI National Landscape Competition in 2014 and we won an award. A perfect end to our project!