We build gardens the way we'd build our own.
A Cheshire landscape studio, founded in 2008, still director-led, still employing every person on site. This is how we work — and why.
Built, not subcontracted.
Urban Garden Projects was founded in 2008 by Phil Dawson, after twelve years running landscape crews for some of the biggest developers in the North West. The brief, then and now, was simple: do work you'd put your name on, charge a fair price, and answer the phone when someone calls.
Today we employ a team of fourteen across design, build and aftercare. Every groundworker, stonemason and carpenter on a project is on the Urban Garden Projects payroll. We don't subcontract the bits that matter — because that's where corners get cut.
We're part of the Urban Group, alongside Urban Homes and Urban Building Projects, which lets us handle jobs that cross a boundary — a new extension with the garden to match, a heritage courtyard, a full-site landscape for a new-build estate.
"I still walk every site before we hand it back. If it isn't right, it doesn't leave."
— Phil Dawson, founder
Phil Dawson
Phil started in landscaping at nineteen and hasn't stopped since. He runs every survey personally and is on site most days of the week. If you work with us, you work with Phil.
Trained at Myerscough, APL member, qualified City & Guilds paver. Lives in Daresbury with a spaniel and an allotment that gets neglected in summer.
phil@urban-garden-projects.co.uk →Fourteen people, one payroll.
Phil Dawson
Founder & Director
Becky Wright
Design Lead
Ryan Bell
Construction Manager
Anna Hollis
Client Liaison
Three things we don't move on.
Craft
Setting a stone to ±1mm is the minimum. Everything we build should still look sharp a decade in.
Clarity
Fixed, itemised quotes. Weekly updates. Nothing hidden, nothing vague. You always know where you stand.
Care
Employed team, not subbies. People who'll come back and check on the patio they laid three summers ago.
Ready to redesign your outside?
Tell us about your garden and we'll come and see it — a free site visit with Phil, no obligation, usually booked within a fortnight.