Case Study

This page gives you an outline of the stages involved in having your garden redesigned (there’s quite a lot of chatting involved too!).

Depending on the complexity of the project and client timelines, the design work usually takes around two to three months.

2. Site Survey

Once the client brief and fee proposal have been agreed I will undertake or ask you to commission a Site Survey. This will accurately measure your space, take note of changes in level and record all plants that are likely to stay. I also take soil samples, look at any drainage issues and note sun and wind directions.

I also look at things outside your garden, for example neighbouring trees or noise. For larger gardens or difficult sites I may recommend a local surveyor but I will always follow up with a more detailed look at the site once their survey is complete.

3. Mood Boards

After the Site Survey is concluded, the next step is to create a Mood Board that we share, usually via Pinterest. I take all of the information you have given me, along with the information I have gained from the Site Survey and gather together images which I think best represent our discussions so far.

These images will give a feel of the kind of garden you might like and also make sure that we are both thinking of the same thing when we use language such as ‘Romantic’ or ‘Nature inspired’.

Once I have attached a good amount of images to a Pinterest board, I will invite you to collaborate and upload your own images if you have any to share. This is a really useful process as we start to work together to create your new garden.

4. Concept Plan

Once you have confirmed your final selection of Pinterest images, we move to the Concept stage. The Concept Plan is a pencil sketch of the proposed garden design. It takes into account your requirements, for example for outbuildings or shade, any steps that might be needed to move through the garden as well as showing any large trees or shrubs that are part of the design. The plan is created at a scale of usually 1:50 or 1:100 so that it is an accurate representation of your outdoor space.

The design is presented in pencil in order to talk through the design thoroughly and allow for any tweaks that might be needed (for example a change in the size of shed or flower bed). I also usually create drawings of how the design might look when built so that you have some 3D images to help you visualise your new garden.

At this stage we also start to talk through the kind of materials you might have for the garden and I will often bring along samples of paving slabs or send you information as to the options available for hard landscaping.

5. Presentation Plan

The Presentation Plan is a final computer generated document of the agreed Concept Plan. It incorporates all final decisions on hard landscaping, changes in level and any large plants such as trees and enables you to obtain quotes from Landscaping companies who will carry out the construction of your new garden.

At this stage I can also supply a Specifications Document. This will list all of the agreed materials for hard landscaping (such as paving slabs for terraces) as well as measurements for areas requiring topsoil or aggregate. This will allow the Landscaper to give a more accurate quote for the works.

I can refer you to Landscaping companies who I have worked with before and I am happy to recommend. They are in no way affiliated with me however and any contracts you may enter in to with them are purely between you and the Landscaper.

6. Construction Drawings

If required, I can also provide Construction Drawings which will detail exactly how an element in your garden should be built. This could be steps, a pergola or water feature.

Providing this kind of detail can be useful in both ensuring that your garden is built exactly as you imagine it and allowing the Landscaper to quote accurately for the work.

7. Setting Out Plans

Setting Out Plans give your Landscaper all of the detail they will need to build the garden. They contain all of the dimensions needed for materials, the space between stepping stones, the height of steps and any other new level changes in the garden.

8. Planting Palette

Once all of the decisions about how the space in the garden will be allocated we can move on to plants. I prepare a Planting Palette which will list trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials and bulbs all of which will thrive in your garden’s particular aspect and will give you months and months of colour and food for visiting pollinators and birds.

The palette uses our Pinterest mood boards to ensure that those suggested work with the kind of look you want in your garden and we go through them together to choose your shortlist.

9. Planting Plan

Once we have our plant shortlist, I will go on to design the planting scheme for your garden. This will ensure as long a flowering season as possible and work with the views into the garden we have established from your home. The size of the coloured circle on the plan denotes the approximate final size of the plant and enables me to estimate how many plants we will need for the garden.

If required I can also source plants from my trade nurseries.

10. Site Visits during Construction

Once your landscaper has been appointed, I can conduct regular meetings both before and during the build to make sure everything is being constructed as expected. This can be a really valuable fine tuning element of the design process as we turn what’s on paper into an actual garden!

11. The Finished Garden!

I love keeping in touch with my clients and their gardens and can come along a few months after completion (depending on the time of year) to check on the plants and make sure everything is settling in well. I can also provide Aftercare and Maintenance schedules to make sure you know how to keep your plants in tip top condition.