Thorne & Vale
Melbourne · Inner north & east
Licensed & insured · est. 2007

A garden, walked across one year

We plantedthe long view.

Garden design, paving, decking and retaining walls across Carlton, Kew and the inner east. Scroll, and watch one block move through its seasons.

18 yrs building Melbourne gardens 4.9★ across 214 jobs $20M liability cover
Begin the walk · spring
Season one · Spring · The drawing

We draw the whole block before a single shovel lifts.

String lines before stone. Levels, sightlines, what shades the deck in February — set on paper while the ground is still bare. You see the plan and the planting before anything is committed.

Down at ground level

What we build into the ground, in the order the ground needs it — levels first, the pretty things last.

01 · The planGarden design

We draw the whole block before we lift a shovel — levels, sightlines, what shades the deck in February. You see the plan and the planting before anything is committed.

02 · The baseRetaining walls

Sleeper, block or rendered concrete, engineered and drained behind so the wall holds the slope for decades, not until the first wet winter.

03 · The waterIrrigation & drainage

Zoned drip lines on a timer and the surface drainage to match. The garden waters itself and the yard stops turning to soup.

04 · The groundPaving & stonework

Bluestone, granite, clay paver. Laid on a proper base with the falls set right, so water runs off the path instead of pooling against the house.

05 · The livingDecking & outdoor living

Spotted gum, blackbutt or composite, built on a frame that won't move. Screening, steps and a roofline that makes the back of the house usable past March.

06 · The greenLawns & turf

Soil prepped, levelled and rolled before a single roll of turf goes down. Buffalo or couch, edged clean, ready to walk on when we hand it back.

BluestoneGraniteClay paverSpotted gumBlackbuttCompositeHardwood sleeperRendered concreteBuffaloCouch
Season two · Summer · The laying

Stone goes down once, and it goes down level.

One crew, one block. Bluestone on a proper base, joints swept tight, the falls set so water runs off the path — not the same rotating cast you met in the quote, but the crew that drew the plan, seeing it through.

Season three · Autumn · The holding

Drained behind, the wall holds the slope for decades.

The part you'll never see. Agg-pipe, gravel and a spirit level across every course. The wet winter that finds a cheap wall finds nothing here — we build the back of it as carefully as the face.

In writing, before we start

A handshake is fine. A signed page is better. Five things we put on paper before the first dig.

iA fixed quote with the plan attached — no allowances that balloon mid-job.
iiOne crew on your block from first dig to final sweep — not a rotating cast.
iiiLevels, falls and drainage set right before anything pretty goes on top.
ivA written plant and materials list, so you know exactly what's going in.
vWe come back at the twelve-month mark to check the wall and the growth.
Season four · Winter · The proof

It looks better at dusk in July than the day we left.

Built to outlast the planting. Level deck flowing onto stone, soft light in settled beds, the lawn holding through the cold. A garden you grow into — not one that quietly comes apart the first season you stop watching.

A full year, walked

Gardens built to outlast the people who plant them.

The end of the walk

Tell us about the block. We'll come and walk it with you.

Then we send back a plan and a fixed price — no obligation, no sales pressure. The same way every garden here started: someone stood on bare ground and pictured the long view.

↳ (03) 9042 7180
Same day, we call you back Carlton, Fitzroy, Brunswick, Northcote, Kew, Hawthorn, Richmond & the inner east & north · @thorneandvale.gardens

Walk the block with us

A few lines is plenty. We'll reply within two business days.

Before you call the number

You won't reach Thorne & Vale. There's no such firm.

We built this garden — name, numbers, photography, all invented — to show what a landscaper's website can be when it's treated like the work itself: designed once, set level, made to last. The craft on the page is real, and it's available to you.

If you build gardens around Melbourne and your site is a quote form on a stock photo, this is the gap we close: one site, built to your trade, that makes the homeowner decide before they call. Tell us your business and we'll show you yours.