Garden Design Buckinghamshire

This garden surrounds a new Passivhaus in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire.  The garden is one acre of a 3-acre plot in a rural location.  The client is building a new Passivhaus and wanted a garden with a large outdoor entertaining space, and an interesting garden that blends the house with its surroundings.

Before

The garden is designed as a series of sweeping curves that loosely enclose large outdoor rooms for various purposes.  A self-binding gravel path winds around the perimeter creating a dry route round the whole garden.  

 

 Master Plan

A circular evening entertaining space with a large fire pit at the rear of the garden is enclosed by a sculpted earth mound finished with wildflower turf and entered through a moon gate.

3-D View - Whole Garden

The large terrace immediately adjacent to the back of the house has a full outdoor kitchen with stainless steel cupboards, an outdoor fridge, a built-in grill and sink and a bar.  Attached to the terrace there is a circular seating area with built-in benches, a contemporary steel pergola and a central fireplace table.  

3-D View - Terrace & Kitchen

Planting will be a blend of wildlife friendly herbaceous borders, shrubs and trees to ensure the  garden blends with its surroundings and sets the new house into its plot.  

 3-D View -Down Garden from House

Enclosed by the gravel paths two small side gardens provide intimate spaces to relax and enjoy the view of the larger garden.  One of these smaller spaces has been designed to include bee hives and planting suitable for bees and other pollinating insects.  

3-D View -  Through Moon Gate Up Garden

In future the design will be expanded into the remaining two acres to include an orchard, and spaces suitable for keeping small animals.  The idea will be to create a garden that is  beautiful and productive as well as fun to spend time in. 

 3-D View - House & Terrace

If you would like help designing your garden, please drop me an email, or visit my Web site for telephone contact details.  You can also see examples of my work on my Facebook page and Houzz profile.

How much does garden design cost?

How much does it cost to have a garden professionally designed?  This is a hard question to answer without taking into account the many factors involved in designing a garden.  Each garden is different - large, small, flat, sloping, narrow.  Ground conditions vary - boggy, dry, sandy, clay soil.  Requirements vary - a complex garden with retaining walls will take longer to design (and therefore cost more) than a simple, flat garden.

 Garden Design Master Plan for Medium-Sized Garden in Marlow, Buckinghamshire

When people phone me and ask me how much my services will cost, my reply is usually unsatisfactorily vague.  This is because I don't really know until I see the garden and talk to the client how much I will need to charge for designing their garden. The cost of a garden designer's services are based on how long it will take them to complete the garden design.

 Garden Design 3-D visual for small/medium- sized garden in Camberley, Surrey

However, deciding to employ a garden designer should involve considerations other than cost.   Having a professionally designed garden is an investment in your property.   Employing an experienced garden designer ensures you will get the garden you want and need.  Garden design plans help you to visualise your new garden.  Garden design plans are given to landscape contractors so they know what they are being asked to build and therefore how much to quote for carrying out the work.  Having garden design plans prepared is the only way to ensure that you get exactly what you are paying for when employing landscape contractors. 

Garden Design 3-D visual for large garden in Ascot, Berkshire

A great deal of time, thought and creativity is involved in arriving at the final garden design and then translating this into plans that can be used by landscape contractors to construct the garden.  The garden design process is set out in detail on my Web site.  

Garden Design Master Plan for Large Garden in Ascot, Berkshire

It is extremely hard to provide fixed costs for designing a garden as fees are based on how long the practical and creative elements of the design process take.  The garden design process is not simply about preparing plans it also involves thinking about how to solve specific issues relating to each site such as level changes (slopes), and awkward-shaped sites.  The garden design process also involves coming up with an aesthetically pleasing and unique solution to each client’s brief.  The value added by a designer is more than simply practical advice, it is about giving the garden balance, symmetry and making it a wonderful place to relax and spend time with friends and family.  

 Garden Design 3-D visual for a small front garden in Woking, Surrey

However, having said all this here are some rough costs that you should allow if you are employing a competent, qualified, experienced garden designer:-

A small, flat garden 10m x 5m, allow £700 - £1000 in fees for the first phase plans, then another £700 - £1200 if you want construction drawings and some project monitoring services.  A medium, flat, simple garden 10m x 15m allow £1200 - £1500 for phase one, then another £1200 - £1500 for phase two.  A large, flat garden 20m x 50m allow £2000-£2500 for phase one then a further £2000 - £3000 for phase two.  

The above figuresare for guidance only - fees will be quoted individually for each project.

If you need help designing your garden please visit my Web site for all contact details, you can also look on my Facebook Page and Pinterest boards for more garden design inspiration.

Patio Design

A patio is just one element of a garden design, but it is one of the most expensive elements of any garden build.  Because the patio fulfils several different functions it needs be given careful consideration.  Here are a few pointers on how to design a patio.

Garden patio design - Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire

Location of the patio

Most patios are sited immediately adjacent to the rear exit from the house because it is convenient - this may not be the best location for your patio.  The back of the house may be shaded all day and therefore not the best place for the patio if you wish to take advantage of the few hours of sunshine we get in this country.  Consider a small terrace to the rear of the house with another seating area somewhere else in the garden where it is sunnier.  When I’m designing a garden I always include more than one patio.  I always try to design a patio area that catches the last of the evening sun.  This makes the garden much more interesting.

 Garden patio design - Woking, Surey

Intended use of the patio

Is the patio mainly for alfresco dining or sunbathing or relaxing with a book or all three? The intended use will dictate the size and location of the patio.  A patio mainly for dining is best placed where there is some shade so that diners can keep cool on warmer days and seek the sun when the weather is cooler.  A patio intended mainly for sunbathing needs to be in a spot where it’s sunny all day.  If you want young children to safely use the patio, it needs to be somewhere you can see them from the house.

 Garden patio design - Bracknell, Berkshire

Capacity of the patio

The patio needs to be large enough to accommodate the correct size of table with room for chairs to be pulled out and for people to move around easily when others are seated.  I allow 1m width for the table, 500mm width on either side of the table for each chair when not pushed under the table, 300mm between chairs down the side of the table, and 700mm width to pull each chair out and sit down comfortably.  

 Garden patio design - Kenley, Surrey

Including built-in seating

Patio designs incorporating built-in seating with pergolas and outdoor fireplaces look very chic and transform the patio into an outdoor room.  This solution is convenient if you don’t want to shuffle around with garden furniture.  However, the position of the seating is fixed and restricts how you can use the patio.  The space is less flexible as seating cannot be varied to turn a dining area into a lounging area.

 Garden patio design - Silchester, Berkshire - built-in seating

Creating privacy

 If the patio is overlooked the patio design will need to include screening for the patio to create privacy.   Walls, hedges, pergolas, and fences can be included in the patio design to provide a sense of enclosure and privacy.

 

  Garden patio design - Woking, Surrey

Decide on the budget

 Installing a patio is expensive but it is worth spending as much as you can afford as the patio is such an important part of the garden.  Allow around £120 per square metre as an all-in cost to get a contractor to lay your patio. 

 Garden patio design - Woking, Surrey

 Choosing the surface material

The most common surface for a patio are paving slabs.  There are many different types of paving slab with a wide range of price tags.  

Steer clear of concrete slabs – they are often more expensive than natural stone, will fade over time and always end up looking fake.  Indian Sandstone has dominated the paving slab market for years as it is cheap, natural, widely available and looks good.  Cheaper Indian Sandstone is not always the bargain it appears as it is thinner, or poorer quality and more porous causing leaching of the minerals in the mortar onto the top surface of the stone.  There are some inexpensive granite slabs around that make a wonderful surface only slightly more expensive than Indian Sandstone.  The more expensive options are Travertine, York stone, Basalt, and Marble.  

Polished concrete makes a wonderful contemporary surface for the patio.  Resin bound gravel is not only great for driveways, but makes an excellent contribution to the patio paving when combined with other materials for textural contrast.  

Garden patio design - Reading, Berkshire

A patio should never be designed in isolation without considering the rest of the garden. A well designed garden where all the elements are in scale with each other and the house will connect the house and garden.  A balanced design that includes a patio or multiple patios will give the garden coherence and ensure that it is a pleasant, comfortable space in which to spend time.  

If you'd like help with designing your garden please get in touch.  Visit my Web site and Facebook page for more project photos. 

Linsey Evans Garden Design creates beautiful bespoke gardens throughout Berkshire, Surrey, London, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, and Buckinghamshire.