Garden Design: The Process
1) Initial Consultation
The process will start with an initial consultation in your garden, usually around 90 minutes in length. The cost of this is £95, payable at the time of booking. This fee is later removed from the final Garden Design invoice.
This is a great way to get to know one another and the outdoor space and to sketch out some ideas. (Travel expenses apply over twenty miles from Barham).
2) Survey and Base Plan
Following-on from the initial consultation I will book a day to survey with my assistant. I'll use this to create a 'base plan'. This is the basic shape of you garden, including the elements to be kept.
3) The Garden Design Meeting
Next, we'll have a meeting, where we'll sit together and with some simple but well-considered sketches, together we'll design a space that fulfils your needs and wishes, suits your garden's soil and is great for wildlife too. I have found this to be a great way for the client to see what they like best and choose to include in the final garden design. Once I am sure you're happy with the sketch, I'll take it away to create a beautiful hand-drawn garden design.
4) The Garden Design
Devising and creating the final garden design takes time, and so it's best to allow a few weeks, or more if the space is large or complex.
Hand-drawing techniques stimulate the very best of my creative imagination, allowing me to respond to the character and mood of the setting and to the wants and interests of the client. It gives rise to well-matched ideas on plant and tree varieties for the setting, its atmosphere, soil type, flora and fauna too.
I work in layers, using three in all, so that the client has all of the information and detail required for preparing, plotting and planting.
Firstly the colour representation, 'The Visual Layer'. This best evokes the look of the garden two, three years after planting. Next is the 'Latin Layer', detailing all the latin names, or coding them with an accompanying key. Lastly there is a scaled 'Graphical Layer', which enables precise plotting of each plant within the garden. This plots the plants at the correct distance from one another, to achieve a harmonious planting system for years to come.
The Build
Once you've signed off your Garden Design I can help you find a suitable local contractor to build any areas of the garden that require landscaping.
The Planting
I have very good connections with superb local nurseries, sourcing British-grown plants. This enables me to source and supply the trees and plants in my designs if need be.
Depending on the scale of the planting, I may take on the planting myself, and sometimes clients wish to assist me in planting their gardens, which can be both an informative and helpful process for them. Alternatively, I can help you find a professional local gardener to undertake this stage.
and lastly...
...your garden to enjoy
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