The end of the Wars of Unification lead westeros into a phase unknown in its history, an era of peace. From the Lands beyond the Wall to the summer sea westeros was peaceful, the squabble of lords had moved from the battlefield to the courts of the king and the Lord paramount's. Merchants who earlier would spend large coin to keep track and protect themselves of the various battles and conflicts now devoted their entire time to trade and only trade. Bandits were now hunted down by lords who enforced the king's peace with a new zeal unseen before, of course earlier the king could not burn the lords and their armies from the back of dragons for disobedience or incompetence, but still the lords did do their job properly.
All this brought great prosperity to westeros as a whole and of course to the Reach, and it was this prosperity that Lord Garth decide to use to rebuild the strength and influence of House Gardener. As someone who had spent considerable time learning about both the Valyrian and westerosi histories garth realised that House Gardener had found itself in the same position as House Hightower had all those years ago, under the protection of a more powerful liege. As such the power of House Gardener depended not on swords but coin. An experience also proven by the free cities whose influence and power was built during the age of Valyria on the prosperity they generated from their markets.
While part of the work had already been seen to in the establishment of the town of Highgarden a lot more could be done and so during the dornish war while the lord of westeros practised with their weapons garth spent his days going through accounts and maps planning. By the time the War ended he was prepared and as such in 10 AC Lord Garth began the construction of the reach roads. These were a series of roads which connected Highgarden to all the corners of the reach. Oldtown, Horn Hill, Ashford, tumbleton, Old Oak, the Red Lake etc. All built of stone and brick and therefore they reduced most journeys by half if not more. Garth also ordered the construction of the garden road which connected Old Oak to Oldtown and Bandalion the long way, creating a border road for the reach.
While expensive House Gardener, which had cut cost massively by reducing the size of its court what with the death of so many, and by the rising revenue borne from the realms prosperity, could pay for them. More importantly garth knew that by placing Highgarden at the center of all these roads most of the merchants would pass through it, which in time would make Highgarden the second most important center for trade in the reach after Oldtown.
However, roads are not the only works garth has built, he also has a keep, named later as Northgarden built on the banks of the Blackwater rush on the border with the Riverland's. This gave House Gardener a chance to turn the mostly empty lands, previously a region of almost continuous conflict, into a major prize for the grain grown there could easily be shipped by barge to the new city of Kings Landing.
Garth also begins to establish marriage alliances between the reach and the major lords of the other kingdoms. Houses Danye, Crakehall, Royce, Mallister, Swann and others would soon receive offers of marriage from the families of the reach. Not all would be maidens of House Gardener but most would, after all they had a rather excess of daughters. This ensuring that the reach of the Reach was present everywhere, barring some exceptions of course, for no one would marry into the Ironborn and it seemed the northerners had decided to go into a period of isolation apparently, a cow had brought a message from the old gods to the starks. Clearly the king who knelt had gone mad in grief along with all his bannermen
And so, Garth spent his days working to improve his House's power and ensure its influence. He died 26 years later in 36 AC, three years before the death of Aegon the conqueror. While he had come to power when House Gardener was at its weakest since Garth Greybeard, Garth the wise as he was called after his death proved to be an able leader preserving the Gardener line and leaving it in the capable hands of his son Willas.
Garth ensured that House Gardener never forgot the loss it faced by House Targaryen's hands and made sure his heirs would maintain his ambitions and goals to see House Gardener rise to greater heights.
But while Garth was mourned by the reach and was keenly missed, he was but one piece in the game of throne which stops for no man, no matter how powerful. And so, while Garth died his son Willas took up his father's mantle vowing the same vow that every lord and king makes, to win, for there are only two outcomes in this game we all play, to win or to die