Front Garden Bracknell, Berkshire

As autumn encloses us in it's chilly mists here's a nostalgic trip around my front garden in Bracknell, Berkshire.

All around me  people are understandably sacrificing their front gardens for parking, but I am holding fast to the sunniest spot on my plot to create a unapologetic burst of blowsy colour from late spring right into the early autumn.

I love this small Eryngium bourgatii 'Picos Amethyst' - it's the perfect edging plant in a sunny spot. I've planted it next to some soft Stachys byzantina and a gorgeous purple Salvia verticillata 'Purple Rain' which flowers all summer long.

Another pretty combination is this Catananche cerulea which is also long flowering with this pale pink mallow Sidalcea 'Elsie Heugh'. The eagle eyed amongst you will spot Brunnera 'Jack Frost' a shade lover that exists fairly happily in full sun and provides a lovely silver foil for the taller plants.

 

The view from the front door shows the perennial borders, the central lavender border around a beautiful small tree Cercis chinensis 'Avondale' - a shrubby relative of the better known Cercis siliquastrum or Judas tree.  

Not all Euonymus are created equal. I inherited a couple of Euonymus japonicus with the garden and kept them but over time have clipped them into shapes - this gold variegated one is the perfect anchor for all the fluffier perennial plants.

Long flowering Knautia macedonia pops it's head through Verbascum  chaxii 'Album' and Veronicastrum 'Apollo' (just about to flower) - it's a gem of a plant flowering on long stems from early summer right through into the winter.

My perennial borders are stuffed with plants that jostle for space in this small front garden. I'm afraid it's a case of do what I say not do what I do in this case even though the result is gratifying.

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.

Small Contemporary Garden Design - Bracknell, Berkshire

Most of us live in very ordinary houses often on housing estates among many other properties that look exactly the same.  It is expensive and highly disruptive and often not possible to change an ordinary house into something more interesting.  The one way to differentiate your house from others around it and get more useable space is to create a beautiful, unusual garden.

This is exactly what I set out to do with the garden at a property on a typical housing estate in one of the older parts of Bracknell, Berkshire.  The houses are not inspiring architecturally, but are well built and have good internal proportions.  The garden has been used mainly for growing vegetables as an overflow from its owner’s allotment.  

 Garden Design, Bracknell, Berkshire - Before

The brief was to have a smaller vegetable area that looked more attractive and with raised beds to help ageing backs with maintenance.  The rest of the garden needed to have places to sit and eat that took account of morning and evening sun, and provided screened storage for bins and garden equipment.  The clients particularly wanted a pretty garden with more colour and seasonal interest.

Garden Design, Bracknell, Berkshire -Plan

 

The scheme includes a large dining and seating area by the house with a circular area for a dining table that is linked to another, smaller circular seating area via a pathway that curves through three wooden arches.  The smaller circular seating area is is partially covered by a wooden pergola.  It is in the shade during the day, but gets the evening sun.  The curves and circles in the garden design give the garden a natural flow and move users through the space providing a gentle journey around the garden.  The paving will be blue-grey granite with an edging of black granite setts.

 

 Garden Design, Bracknell, Berkshire - 3-D View

 

Along one boundary there are three raised vegetable beds.  These will be constructed from Oak railway sleepers set on end with a wide Oak plank set across the top so that each raised bed also functions as an informal bench seat.  

 Garden Design, Bracknell, Berkshire - 3-D View

The bottom of the garden has been dedicated to storage.  The whole area is screened by the circular pergola and a piece of slatted screening that closes off the view the house.  There is a bespoke timber storage area to accommodate three wheely bins.  These can be opened from the top so the bins can be filled easily and from the front so they can be pulled out for emptying.  There is also a custom made timber storage cupboard for a wheelbarrow, compost, pots and other garden equipment.  This also has a hinged top as well as a front opening door.  This area will be paved with self-binding gravel.

Garden Design, Bracknell, Berkshire - 3-D View

 There is a curved lawn with a border for herbaceous plants that will provide summer colour.  There is a deep border by the boundary opposite the vegetable area that will be planted with a mixture of shrubs and herbaceous plants that are shade tolerant and will give interest throughout the seasons.

 Garden Design, Bracknell, Berkshire - 3-D View

 This scheme uses all the available space, design is unique and will create an urban oasis for the clients that gives them an additional outdoor room as well as providing a beautiful view from their house windows.  It may also surprise people walking through the gates of this very ordinary Bracknell house.

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.

Small Garden Design - Ascot, Berkshire

I have just finished the garden design plans for this small back garden in Ascot, Berkshire.  This is a typical newish build estate-type rear garden – small, an odd shape with a slight level change both lengthwise and across its width.

The brief for the new design was to make the garden more attractive with larger seating areas that make maximum use of the sunniest spots of this North facing plot.  The client prefers curved shapes and wanted the garden to be more interesting and to function as an outdoor room.  A key requirement was to provide outdoor space for the clients two boisterous dogs whilst keeping them out of the borders to prevent them destroying the plants.  The client’s preference is for textural, architectural planting with some spots of colour provided by dramatic perennials such as Agapanthus.

 

Garden design plan - Small Garden Design, Ascot, Berkshire

This dynamic scheme has two interlocking circular lawns separated by curved stone pathways, flanked with raised borders.  Two half-moon shaped raised beds to either side of the enlarged patio area, and a circular planter in the centre of the terrace elevate the planting and provide informal seating and visual interest.  The raised planting will discourage the dogs from jumping straight onto the borders and should preserve the new planting.  The patio area extends down the side of the garden to provide a generous dining area, plus additional seating in the part of the garden that has the most sun. 

 3-D Visual for Small Garden Design, Ascot, Berkshire

  3-D Visual for Small Garden Design, Ascot, Berkshire

  3-D Visual for Small Garden Design, Ascot, Berkshire

 3-D Visual for Small Garden Design, Ascot, Berkshire

If you'd like help creating your perfect garden, or even just a new planting scheme please email me or visit my Web site for telephone contact details.  My Facebook page and Houzz  profile also have loads more information on my projects and services.

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.