The design process

Initial consultation

Free for the first hour. Travel may apply further afield.

I visit you and the garden. We talk about how you use the space now, how you'd like to use it, what you'd want to change, what you'd want to keep. Likes, dislikes, style, budget. A new paved seating area, a pond, raised vegetable beds — whatever's in your mind.

I also look outward: the views, the surrounding trees, the aspect of the site, the soil if it matters. If we agree to proceed, I'll usually survey the garden on this visit too, so I have scaled plans to work from. Larger or more complex gardens may need a second visit and a level survey.

Design ideas

From the consultation and survey, I draw up a number of scaled design options — variations on the themes we discussed. The drawings show overall layout, hard and soft landscaping, a sense of materials, planting types and planting character.

Design ideas consultation

I come back with the drawings. We look through them together — how the design works as a whole, where the materials sit, where the planting goes, what to mix in from one variation to another. By the end of this visit we usually have a single working plan and a sense of the overall cost and timescale.

Detailed master plan

Optional. Recommended if you're building the garden yourself or working with a third-party landscaper.

From the agreed working plan I draw up the detail: hard landscaping specifications, materials, planting plans down to the named species. Anything a builder or planter would need to make the design real.