Whenever I'm making a decision, doing a bit of DIY, or even just going to the supermarket, I make a list. This articulation of my requirements and the act of writing them down helps to clarify my ideas, point up potential problems and highlight omissions. The same applies to designing a garden - even installing a simple patio will work out better if you have a plan.
So, give your project some thought and you’ll always get a better outcome. This means you’ll need to find a garden designer. Someone else’s take on your garden project is always valuable. A fresh pair of eyes will produce ideas that don’t suggest themselves automatically to the person who spends every day looking out on the garden. If that someone has built many gardens before, even better.
How do you go about choosing a garden designer? It’s tough – there are a lot of us out there. So, here are my 7 tips for choosing a garden designer:-
1. Personal recommendation: ask around at work, social gatherings, family, trusted contractors (plumbers, builders, etc) and see if you can find a designer that someone has used before. This doesn’t necessarily mean they are the right person for you, but it is a start and you know they have done a good job for someone else.
2. Search on Google: put in some specific search terms, for example, do you have a steeply sloping garden? If so, type in sloping garden design and see who’s got projects on their site that they’ve completed that match these criteria.
3. Breadth of work: look for someone who has a good breadth of projects – all sizes and shapes. It shows that this landscape designer knows how to take everything from a small, poky, dark courtyard to a large, empty field and turn it into a garden.
4. Qualifications: qualifications are a tricky one, of course they are important, but college courses vary in quality and content. It is just as important that a garden designer can take what they’ve learned in college and translate this into solving real-world garden design problems. There are some excellent landscape designers out there who have no qualifications at all. See my next point.
5. Portfolio and completed projects: meet your chosen garden designer/designers and look through their portfolio of completed projects. Don’t get too carried away by the presentation of the plans. The ability to articulate the design on paper and make it look pretty is important, but this doesn’t mean the design will work when it’s built. Make sure you look at photographs of the completed jobs, go and see some of the gardens and talk to the clients.
6. Relationship: you must like the garden designer, trust the quality of their work and believe you can have a great working relationship with them. Having your garden designed is a very personal experience. You will need to work closely with your designer and spend time in their company, if you don’t think you can get on with them find someone else.
7. Professionalism: this is so important. You are entrusting your garden designer with creating an enduring part of your property and almost certainly spending a large chunk of your money. They must fill you with confidence that they can behave and run their business in a professional manner. The designer will need to communicate clearly with you and all the contractors involved in the build, understand the technicalities of the construction, be able to solve problems as they arise, and provide good documentation for each stage of the project. If you don’t believe they will be able to do this, keep on looking.
If you need help with designing your garden check out some of my work on my Web site and give me a call to discuss your requirements.
Wednesday 28 April 2010
Monday 19 April 2010
7 ways to design a small garden and make it seem larger
When designing a very small garden it’s often hard to see what can be done to create interest and make the space seem larger. Here are some tips on how to trick the eye so that a very small garden appears bigger and more interesting:-
1. Create a false doorway: fixing a gate to a boundary wall or fence, even if it leads nowhere will give the impression there is a something beyond the confines of the garden boundaries. Try using an old wrought iron gate with mirror behind it and a fringe of climbers to blur the edges.
2. Use contrasting colours: another way to suggest that the garden extends beyond its actual boundaries is to use contrasting colours. A pale wall with a door-sized rectangle painted in a darker colour framed by some climbers and planted pots will look like a passageway. You can also use contrasting flower and foliage colours to add the illusion of extra depth to a garden.
3. Create a false perspective: this can be achieved in several ways such as using diminishing sized pots, plants or statuary, or narrowing a path as it approaches the boundary.
4. Combine hard and soft elements: if you terminate a pergola or pathway at the garden boundary and then plant the boundary with evergreen climbers and the base of the path or pergola with evergreen shrubs it will blur the edges of the garden and give the impression of greater space.
5. Trompe L’Oeil: literally translated trompe l’oeil means trick of the eye. They are usually notional views into a landscape beyond the garden and can give a quirky extra dimension to the garden. If done well they can make a real statement. If in doubt keep it simple by painting a fake doorway and surrounding it with evergreen planting and climbers.
6. Level changes: use level changes to create interest and add extra depth to a small garden. If you include some steps, raised beds, or even a raised pool in a small square garden it will give the garden an extra dimension and make it appear more interesting. The eye will stop on the level changes and not be drawn so immediately to the garden boundaries.
7. Structures: wooden structures are a great addition to a garden they enable vertical planting, give height and can help create the impression of a more spacious garden. A heavily planted pergola placed against a boundary wall prevents the eye stopping on the garden boundary and blurs the edges of the garden suggesting extra space beyond. An archway part way down a path suggests another area of garden.
If you'd like help designing your garden please get in touch - all contact details are on my Web site.
1. Create a false doorway: fixing a gate to a boundary wall or fence, even if it leads nowhere will give the impression there is a something beyond the confines of the garden boundaries. Try using an old wrought iron gate with mirror behind it and a fringe of climbers to blur the edges.
2. Use contrasting colours: another way to suggest that the garden extends beyond its actual boundaries is to use contrasting colours. A pale wall with a door-sized rectangle painted in a darker colour framed by some climbers and planted pots will look like a passageway. You can also use contrasting flower and foliage colours to add the illusion of extra depth to a garden.
3. Create a false perspective: this can be achieved in several ways such as using diminishing sized pots, plants or statuary, or narrowing a path as it approaches the boundary.
4. Combine hard and soft elements: if you terminate a pergola or pathway at the garden boundary and then plant the boundary with evergreen climbers and the base of the path or pergola with evergreen shrubs it will blur the edges of the garden and give the impression of greater space.
5. Trompe L’Oeil: literally translated trompe l’oeil means trick of the eye. They are usually notional views into a landscape beyond the garden and can give a quirky extra dimension to the garden. If done well they can make a real statement. If in doubt keep it simple by painting a fake doorway and surrounding it with evergreen planting and climbers.
6. Level changes: use level changes to create interest and add extra depth to a small garden. If you include some steps, raised beds, or even a raised pool in a small square garden it will give the garden an extra dimension and make it appear more interesting. The eye will stop on the level changes and not be drawn so immediately to the garden boundaries.
7. Structures: wooden structures are a great addition to a garden they enable vertical planting, give height and can help create the impression of a more spacious garden. A heavily planted pergola placed against a boundary wall prevents the eye stopping on the garden boundary and blurs the edges of the garden suggesting extra space beyond. An archway part way down a path suggests another area of garden.
If you'd like help designing your garden please get in touch - all contact details are on my Web site.
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