Once we have agreed the scope and the estimated price for the project (which is based on the amount of time I believe will be required, plus a guideline price for any materials and plant costs as appropriate), there will be a ‘Project Kick Off’ meeting held at your garden
The first steps will be for me to measure up the garden or garden areas which you would like to be designed and to take photographs, where appropriate, to help me understand the details of your specific garden situation.
This will enable me to create a scale drawing of your garden which is the start point for the garden design ideas to be developed. (If you have a scale drawing of your garden area from an architect or surveyor I will use this to draw up the initial garden space).
This allows me to review the amount of space available in the garden for your desired features such as patio areas, pergolas, the appropriate size for planting areas and for specific plants that you would like to include, such as ornamental trees.
We will then review your ideas for the garden including your likes and dislikes in regards to garden style, plant features and shapes, colours and any hard landscaping features that you would like to include eg a greenhouse.
I will then send you a document by email (or post), summarising our discussions, which you can amend or add to as required. This will act as the ‘wish list’ for your garden design where I will try to include as many of your requirements as possible within your outline garden budget.
Finally, I will then need to evaluate the garden in order to determine other factors which will define the plants and garden elements that will be the most suitable for your outdoor space. This will include taking soil samples to determine the acidity or alkalinity of the soil and the type of soil that you have.
Additionally we will review the location of sunny, or shady areas that there are in the garden, evaluate other factors such as the prevailing wind direction and the views in and out of the garden which you may like to retain or disguise.
The next stage of the project may be to either define design ideas for the garden, to create a suitable planting plan for the garden or to review your existing garden planting and make recommendations for changes.
For more information about this stage of my design services please contact me for more details or by calling me on the numbers shown below.