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Garden Planting

We have in house skills to carry out most aspects of garden design and can advise on aspects of hard landscaping such as position of garden buildings, paths, fences, ponds and other structures. However,we are principally a planting consultancy and it is advising on planting projects that is our main work.

Ways of working - Site visits
 

We are firmly of the view that the best place to make major design decisions is on the site itself. Even with a thorough site survey and photographic record, certain factors are likely to be forgotten or not taken into account when back at the office.

Remote advice, skype/face time etc.

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Notwithstanding the above, there are straightforward problems with simple solutions that can be dealt with very efficiently and economically with the use of modern communications. Advising on for example, the planting of a single tree might be completed in a few minutes with the help of a smartphone.

Vibe
 

Every garden has its own particular atmosphere and sense of place. Where this is positive, we work to harmonise with and emphasize it; where not, we may seek to create a more completely separate world around you with a new vibe. Although what we do involves following rules and principles, there is an important element of it that is intuitive or instinctive. So to enable us to work optimally, we need as much access to the site as possible. We have a studio van to facilitate working nearby with minimal intrusion.

Why you need us

 

There are tens of thousands of plants available to gardeners. With a very wide knowledge of what exists, we help you to make the right choice of plants for the place bearing in mind your requirements. These may be quite specific; you may for example need something that will grow to eye level to screen out an unwanted view within a year or two but not need pruning very often thereafter. This would tell us we need to find a plant of perhaps semi-mature size to start with and that is relatively slow growing, as well as being happy in your growing conditions.

Making the choice without specialist advice can be a false economy. Following the decision about which plant to use, there is then the question of where to find it. We have an increasing database of the stock of nurseries both in the UK and in mainland Europe to help with this where a suitable subject is not locally readily available.

Our own nurseries
 

To have ready access to certain plants that we consider indispensable and others that simply may not be available elsewhere, we have two nursery sites where we produce our own plants, though representing only a small fraction of the range we need to call upon.

Working with professionals

 

As well as helping garden owners directly, we are happy to provide planting schemes for architects, landscape architects and garden designers to carry out this specialised aspect of their project.

Realistic Expectations
 

Clients who are not already gardeners may not have a good idea of what can be expected from their garden, especially if many ideas and images come from horticultural shows or from watching a lot of TV makeovers. It is important to realise that these examples are effectively stage set pieces for a snapshot effect. It will depend on individual circumstances but we are normally aiming (if a whole garden is involved) to produce an attractive picture or at least highlights all year round. As most hardy plants flower for only a couple of weeks of the year, whereas their foliage is present usually at least for the whole of the summer (all year if they are evergreens),it is necessary to have an appreciation of leaves as well as flowers. They must provide much of the substance of any design.

Winter stems of trees and shrubs sometimes brightly coloured, and frost bleached still standing herbaceous plant stems, along with berries and flowers in the coldest months, mean that lovely pictures can be enjoyed though all the seasons

We don't always add
 
There will be situations where we advise on existing planting, that some of the variety be reduced. Sometimes the maxims ‘less is more’ and ‘if in doubt simplify’, are applicable. Conversely, we are confident in our ability to create satisfying planting designs that are very mixed or complex.
Sketches may suffice
 

Much of the cost of employing a designer is usually taken up with their drafting of very precisely measured and attractively presented paper or screen images. Where necessary, we will carry this out but with the less exact measurements generally required for most planting, we can save a lot of the cost if we are able to clearly indicate to you what is required with a simple sketch giving the specified plants' names and requirements.

Plot marking
 

We like to physically mark the position of key elements: trees, major plants and border outlines using pots, pegs and marker lines. This avoids risks of error from misunderstanding positions in the transferring of a plan from paper to site.

The Plants:
 

For reasons of economy and from environmental considerations, we will often ,especially where a budget is particularly tight, recommend easily obtainable material which is likely to have been mass produced. There is an advantage to this in that the plants will probably be varieties that are tried ,tested and reliable in the area. However, there are cultivars of plants that are threatened with extinction in cultivation, or species that are extremely garden worthy that are threatened in the wild, and where feasible we like to include the more unusual. Gardeners are not known for being  averse to a bit of one-up-manship in having varieties  that few others possess as well as helping conserve populations.

Long experience of growing thousands of different plants has led us over time to often favour growing those that are close to the original wild species. Sometimes we simply find them more beautiful, but importantly we favour growing them over more superficially spectacular highly bred varieties because they generally are more resilient and retain better natural resistance to pests and diseases, so should not require chemical treatments to stay healthy.

Some plants will hardly need attention for years on end others might benefit from a deadheading (removing spent flowers) or cutting back once or twice in a year to stay looking respectable. We provide instructions so that each plant's quirks and requirements can be managed. The choice will depend on the style of garden asked for; there are plants that require pampering , and for achieving a certain effect, it may be worth the effort. Trouble freedom though is most often what we are looking for.

Economical with Plants
 

It is true that a single large specimen tree, ready grown, can cost many thousands of pounds, although it might in certain contexts be excellent value if transforming the surroundings. In the main however, planting potentially is the least expensive attractive way of covering any piece of ground and consideration should be given to this before opting for unnecessarily large areas of paving or other generally much more costly surfaces.

What we need
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Various key pieces of information can be collected by us if a site visit is planned but if a site survey is not required, most can be provided to us by you as a garden owner remotely. Existing  house and land survey plans can be useful here to work from, or a designer’s zoning or final hard landscape plan.

 

To include​

  • Aspect - Whether a site is in sun or shade or half shade and whether it is in the shadow of building or over head tree canopy.   The direction of north is needed.

  • Climate - (local blips) We can refer to guides indicating broad geographical variations but within the garden, there will be warmer and colder spots.There will also be sheltered or windy (perhaps different wind tunnel effects between buildings) areas.

  • Soil characteristics - Free draining and inclined to dry out or subject to water logging and permanently moist or drying out in summer. We can if necessary collect or be sent soil samples to assess this and soil pH.

  • Position of utilities - may be required especially if large stock is to be planted from deep pots, also if older clay sewerage pipes are still in place.

  • Dimensions - These can be relatively much less precise than would be required for full built garden design where precision can be vital. Plants are a dynamic element so a few centimetres tolerance at least are fine for areas to be planted, in most circumstances.

  • Main sightlines/views - out of house doors and windows and from places within the garden.

  • Maintenance provision available – This is critically important but not always given enough consideration. What is likely to be available timewise if doing your own gardening, or financially if able to employ others to do the work?  Even the most labour saving gardens will need some attention.

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