DESIGN
The garden design process starts off with a thorough briefing meeting. At this, we talk in more detail about your tastes and requirements, how you use your garden, any key areas, current problems to be addressed, and your preferred styles and practical requirements – all with the aim of formulating an accurate design brief to work from. I make use of photos and illustrations at this stage to assist in the process, and close collaboration with the client is essential at this stage to ensure that a clear and comprehensive brief is formulated.
A Concept design is then drawn up, and consists of a Masterplan together with supporting visuals to show you how the final garden will look. It acts as a discussion document allowing me to present my ideas and talk through any changes you may wish to make, before progressing to the final drawings.
BUILD
There are many elements for consideration when building a garden, from excavation to paving to walling to steps to specialist features to lighting to irrigation and finally arriving at planting! These are all affected by the characteristics of the site, soil and the weather and require careful management.
I manage the tender process (producing a build specification and construction drawings, arranging for contractors to quote, meeting them on site to explain the design) and work only with high quality landscaping contractors who have built many of my gardens.
I can also monitor the build process through weekly site meetings during the construction period. Any queries can be clarified quickly, along with any resulting design changes.
