Discussion
A LOT of garden designers actually 'bend' stuff they've done before to fit your space. So in the end, it's little to do with you, but a re-hash of their experience. Which may be OK.
Shape is more important than plants. Do you want a lawn with borders (usual thing); a jungle with paths and tall stuff everywhere; parkland style with clumps of beds and trees in the grassland?
You decide what you think will work with you, your lifestyle etc. where you'll need construction for the hard bits.
Then get a plants person to advise on what will like being where, to give you the effect you want.
In any case, if you're there for a few years, the plants that get established will get bigger and bigger, so the design will actually evolve over time.
Shape is more important than plants. Do you want a lawn with borders (usual thing); a jungle with paths and tall stuff everywhere; parkland style with clumps of beds and trees in the grassland?
You decide what you think will work with you, your lifestyle etc. where you'll need construction for the hard bits.
Then get a plants person to advise on what will like being where, to give you the effect you want.
In any case, if you're there for a few years, the plants that get established will get bigger and bigger, so the design will actually evolve over time.
The things that are a definite:
Decking coming out from the bifolds with adequate space to seat 8 round a table and fit a barbequeue & pizza oven (webber + ooni).
Decking will have a pergola with wisteria growing over the top of it
Would love if I can fit a water feature. Probably won't do fish, but pond & waterfall would be great.
I prefer interesting & unusual rather than ornate. (I'd be quite happy with Giant Rhubarb, except it's been banned)
Low maintenance is a must.
Decking coming out from the bifolds with adequate space to seat 8 round a table and fit a barbequeue & pizza oven (webber + ooni).
Decking will have a pergola with wisteria growing over the top of it
Would love if I can fit a water feature. Probably won't do fish, but pond & waterfall would be great.
I prefer interesting & unusual rather than ornate. (I'd be quite happy with Giant Rhubarb, except it's been banned)
Low maintenance is a must.
Arnold Cunningham said:
The things that are a definite:
Decking coming out from the bifolds with adequate space to seat 8 round a table and fit a barbequeue & pizza oven (webber + ooni).
Decking will have a pergola with wisteria growing over the top of it
Would love if I can fit a water feature. Probably won't do fish, but pond & waterfall would be great.
I prefer interesting & unusual rather than ornate. (I'd be quite happy with Giant Rhubarb, except it's been banned)
Low maintenance is a must.
Decking is not low maintenance in this country.Decking coming out from the bifolds with adequate space to seat 8 round a table and fit a barbequeue & pizza oven (webber + ooni).
Decking will have a pergola with wisteria growing over the top of it
Would love if I can fit a water feature. Probably won't do fish, but pond & waterfall would be great.
I prefer interesting & unusual rather than ornate. (I'd be quite happy with Giant Rhubarb, except it's been banned)
Low maintenance is a must.
I would avoid, nasty, slippery, stuff. Plastic decking looks gash and still goes green.
BlindedByTheLights said:
Take photos and ask chat gpt to generate ideas including rendered pictures. Include what you do and don t want. You ll be amazed at the ideas
This. I've a new build I'm about to move onto.
I've chucked photos into Gemini with a few web links to garden designs I like, a few of the plants I like, where I want seating area and said 'i want that, here's.
It's surprisingly good..
POIDH said:
BlindedByTheLights said:
Take photos and ask chat gpt to generate ideas including rendered pictures. Include what you do and don t want. You ll be amazed at the ideas
This. I've a new build I'm about to move onto.
I've chucked photos into Gemini with a few web links to garden designs I like, a few of the plants I like, where I want seating area and said 'i want that, here's.
It's surprisingly good..
I've tried a couple of apps like Garden Planner, thats free for two weeks, offers a Visio drag and drop type of planning then gives a 3d view you can walk around, but I guess it would work really well if you wanted to put the effort in. Gemini worked well enough for the ideas I have
Look at other people's and discuss what you like.
As well as friends and family houses, think about small corners of e.g. National Trust properties (assuming you can't budget for 50 acres of parkland!), and also a few houses for sale we viewed have given some inspiration.
Personally, I like to have some colour as much of the year as possible, so plants that flower early and late.
Also plants with berries, because we like to have birds and other wildlife.
Also wind shelter can be important.
Regarding the shape and placing of things, we sit in different places according to time of year and time of day, either seeking sun or shade.
I like to be able to work on e.g. my bikes outdoors, in either sun or shade as appropriate.
What do you do in your garden other than 'gardening'? Our garden is not much use if your nephews want to kick a ball around.
Also consider access for hedgetrimming and other jobs. I have hedges which are difficult to trim because of the way borders have been put in front and ground levels have been messed with.
I would also consider functional stuff better than it has been here.
You need somewhere for the bins. You might want to hide oil tanks or water butts.
It's good to have a working area with compost bins and whatever that's easy to use but out of site from the house and public.
I would have a bigger greenhouse and maybe some cold frames. And a decent pond.
Ideally, I like places where there is some sort of transitional indoor/outdoor space.
As well as friends and family houses, think about small corners of e.g. National Trust properties (assuming you can't budget for 50 acres of parkland!), and also a few houses for sale we viewed have given some inspiration.
Personally, I like to have some colour as much of the year as possible, so plants that flower early and late.
Also plants with berries, because we like to have birds and other wildlife.
Also wind shelter can be important.
Regarding the shape and placing of things, we sit in different places according to time of year and time of day, either seeking sun or shade.
I like to be able to work on e.g. my bikes outdoors, in either sun or shade as appropriate.
What do you do in your garden other than 'gardening'? Our garden is not much use if your nephews want to kick a ball around.
Also consider access for hedgetrimming and other jobs. I have hedges which are difficult to trim because of the way borders have been put in front and ground levels have been messed with.
I would also consider functional stuff better than it has been here.
You need somewhere for the bins. You might want to hide oil tanks or water butts.
It's good to have a working area with compost bins and whatever that's easy to use but out of site from the house and public.
I would have a bigger greenhouse and maybe some cold frames. And a decent pond.
Ideally, I like places where there is some sort of transitional indoor/outdoor space.
I’m a big fan of having gardens designed properly, they can utterly transform a space.
The first thing is to work out the features you need/want in a garden. Then the overall style - formal, cottage, productive, flower, jungle etc.
Buy an introductory book on garden design and look through that for ideas, styles & inspiration. You might find some examples which are close enough to your space to let you use them as a basis. You can also watch episodes of things like Garden Rescue on iPlayer - skip through to the design reveals and ignore the rest of it.
Or, you can hire a garden designer which will cost £1000-£2000 for a typical sized garden. Unfortunately, they (the designers) vary quite a lot in capabilities so ask to see their portfolio if you go that route.
Whatever you do, don’t just stick a patio on the. Sick of the house, then do a wiggly “garden hose” border around the edges and lawn in the middle. It’s bizarre how that is the predominant look in most gardens when any garden of any size can offer so much more.
The first thing is to work out the features you need/want in a garden. Then the overall style - formal, cottage, productive, flower, jungle etc.
Buy an introductory book on garden design and look through that for ideas, styles & inspiration. You might find some examples which are close enough to your space to let you use them as a basis. You can also watch episodes of things like Garden Rescue on iPlayer - skip through to the design reveals and ignore the rest of it.
Or, you can hire a garden designer which will cost £1000-£2000 for a typical sized garden. Unfortunately, they (the designers) vary quite a lot in capabilities so ask to see their portfolio if you go that route.
Whatever you do, don’t just stick a patio on the. Sick of the house, then do a wiggly “garden hose” border around the edges and lawn in the middle. It’s bizarre how that is the predominant look in most gardens when any garden of any size can offer so much more.
be very careful with who you give the work to
My sister employed a professional firm. They laid s
t patio, st paved pathyway to the end of the garden (40m or so) and made this sheltered area at the back which was poorly executed. They used a felt roof which was laid above rafters and has sunk down in between the rafters by several inches the whole way across. She thought she'd be okay given she was employing garden specialists but they were just awful. So much rework to be done.
I would research each bit of work that needs doing and check they are planning on doing it to the spec you want.
If I would suggest one thing, it would be epoxy grout for your porcelain paving. Hard to apply but will not crumble and fall out
My sister employed a professional firm. They laid s
t patio, st paved pathyway to the end of the garden (40m or so) and made this sheltered area at the back which was poorly executed. They used a felt roof which was laid above rafters and has sunk down in between the rafters by several inches the whole way across. She thought she'd be okay given she was employing garden specialists but they were just awful. So much rework to be done. I would research each bit of work that needs doing and check they are planning on doing it to the spec you want.
If I would suggest one thing, it would be epoxy grout for your porcelain paving. Hard to apply but will not crumble and fall out
Garden Design is surprisingly expensive - as I've found out the hard way. Design only services cost from £2.5k upwards for medium to large sized garden, and I've had several quotes in the region of £6.k to almost £10k as well. You get a lot of bells and whistles like 3D renders and virtual walthroughs included, if that's what you want. The top end will get you award winning designers that regularly feature at shows like the Chelsea Flower show.
OttoMattik said:
Garden Design is surprisingly expensive - as I've found out the hard way. Design only services cost from £2.5k upwards for medium to large sized garden, and I've had several quotes in the region of £6.k to almost £10k as well. You get a lot of bells and whistles like 3D renders and virtual walthroughs included, if that's what you want. The top end will get you award winning designers that regularly feature at shows like the Chelsea Flower show.
The design is the cheap bit. OP needs to make sure he's sitting down when the quotes come in to actually do the work...LooneyTunes said:
The design is the cheap bit. OP needs to make sure he's sitting down when the quotes come in to actually do the work...
Yep - £100 per square metre is the starting point for a professionally landscaped garden and I've spoken to people who've spent £250-£300 per square metre as well. Fantastic looking outdoor areas (can't really call them gardens anymore) but it's a lot of work and expense. Huzzah said:
Arnold Cunningham said:
Compared to plants that need constant cutting back.
An hour or two once or twice per annum vs rotting, scrubbing, staining and in winter a slippery green mess. Give me vicious pyracantha any day.
I got a book from these authors 30+ years ago when I was looking at a big rectangle of topsoil: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Quick-Easy-Garden-Design-...
I'm still very pleased with the layout.
So get a book, or go and look at other gardens, and when you see something you really like, copy it
I'm still very pleased with the layout.
So get a book, or go and look at other gardens, and when you see something you really like, copy it
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