How we work

1 – The Brief

The brief is the starting point for any garden design. We listen carefully to the client’s heart’s desire, noting what’s important to them and asking the questions we need to ask. Hopefully in this conversation we’ll also introduce things they’ve not considered yet, making the brief an exploratory exchange of ideas. From here we can use our expertise, experience and guidance to understand the client’s hopes for their garden.

2 – Garden Survey

The garden survey is a part of the process that we hugely enjoy. We go and sit in the garden to visually and viscerally understand the space. While we’re there we note the practical essentials – The orientation of the garden, how the sun’s light and heat affects different areas of the garden at different times, we take measurements, note the prevailing winds, the areas of cold or damp, any potential sitting areas and any existing problems, for example views to be obscured and crucially the character of the soil.

3 – Garden Design Concept

Garden design is a process, of which this initial concept is (although not the end result), an essential first stage. The freedom of this stage enables us to make creative discoveries, understand what is and isn’t possible, and create the nucleus of the design, which will be visible in the garden’s ultimate design.

4 – Detailed Garden Design

Creating the detailed garden design is the process of taking the best, most pertinent and most practical elements from the initial design concept and designing the garden around those. The garden’s layout comes first – the realities and practicalities of the space, and the needs of the client. The design is drawn up to scale, presented to the client for discussion, then refined and revised together. This is also the point at which we present samples of materials. Accurate quotes will then be rendered.

5 – Planting Plan & Placement