We differ from many other garden design practices in the highly considered way we approach every project. Our goal is to create gardens that are elegant, immersive and a joy to live in.
We manage all aspects of the design process, from first visit to completed garden and beyond. We aim to make the whole process enjoyable and stress-free for you. Here are our design services:
The Site Visit is a chance to meet in person to soak in the atmosphere of the landscape and gain a deeper sense of the brief. We will evaluate the site together looking at the unique opportunities and challenges it presents. We will follow this with a detailed Fee Proposal, which will give a clear breakdown of our work stages and – importantly – provide you with a guide to the overall build cost of your project based on your initial brief and the scope of work.
We will arrange for your existing garden to be surveyed precisely, taking into account services, soil condition and PH, and any restrictions such as tree preservation orders. Whenever possible we will come to site at the same time of the survey to ensure the surveyor catches everything required.
This is where we learn everything possible about the site – its history, flora and fauna, opportunities and restrictions. We formalise this in Site Analysis. Zoning and shade studies. Development Development sees us exploring design precedents and ideas with you, often through shared mood boards, culminating in a design ‘story’ which will guide the Concept Design.
The Concept Design is a 2-D scaled drawing, showing the proposed design. We take great care with Concept Designs to ensure that they are both highly considered and appear effortless in conception. We imagine how you and your family will live in our gardens, providing you with formal and hidden spaces that are both delightful and practical. The Concept Design can be accompanied by CGI animations of the proposed gardens, providing hyper-real visualisations the scheme by day and night.
Planting design is often the most personal part of our collaboration with clients, where we work with clients to create a scheme based on plants they love and those we recommend. We source plants from across Europe and will arrange for clients to join us on tagging trips for specials, such as larger trees and topiary. The agreed planting scheme is captured in a detailed plan, with a maintenance guide provided as standard.
Once the design is signed off by clients, we create detailed drawings of how to construct the new garden – including elements such as lighting, water features and irrigation. Where required, we’ll bring in specialist designers to assist with this. With all aspects of the project precisely caught in drawings, we then prepare all the relevant documentation for tender. We oversee the selection of trusted contractors that we feel are best suited to create your garden, review and value engineer the tenders and advise on which tender to progress with.
We will visit the site during the creation of your garden to check that the work is being carried out to the highest standard. Our preferred method is via arranged (and minuted) meetings with relevant contractors to ensure that there is good team working and deadlines and budgets remain on track. We want to take the stress of the build away from clients, allowing you to enjoy this process of transformation without getting caught up in the nitty-gritty – leave that to us.
Gardens often take a few years to establish and it’s vital they are tended correctly during this time. We will provide full maintenance schedules for the garden, and set up an online calendar to remind you of what garden jobs need doing through the year. Alternatively, we can arrange for experienced gardeners to come in and maintain the garden for you. And of course, we will happily come and visit the garden over the coming months and years.