Full Service Garden Design
Are you hoping to transform your outdoor space, but lacking the time? Or maybe you’d like to know that the decisions you are making are a sound long term investment? Whatever reason you’re looking for a garden designer, we can help bring the experience and creativity needed to realise your dream garden.
Maybe you’d like a space to enjoy in your retirement, a spot for entertaining, a family garden that caters to everyone’s needs, or a cosy wildlife-friendly nook to relax… We believe every garden should be deeply personal, so we won’t impose a particular style on you. We’ll work with you to develop a deep understanding of your space, your ideas and preferences, then will help craft a space that’s perfectly tailored.
We design gardens, in London, Surrey and beyond, that balance beauty, ecology and everyday living, shaping spaces that feel as good to use as they do to look at, through every season and over time.
“We are eternally grateful to Zoe for transforming our small, suburban garden into a beautiful, relaxing space for our family. Working from a starting point of a few existing trees and a large trampoline that we wanted to keep, she cleverly created a beautiful Japanese woodland design that changes dramatically with the seasons, maximises our space and blends in our existing features as if they were intended as part of the design all along.
“Zoe has been a pleasure to work with, always providing clear breakdowns of the work she will do at each stage, and with clear timelines. We’ve really appreciated the detailed advice she has given us about how to care for the plants, as well as what to expect in the different seasons and from year to year.”
– Thalia and Ed
While every garden is different, our approach is consistent. We follow the steps outlined here to make sure our designs are grounded in a detailed understanding of your brief and space.
To minimise stress, we take a hands-on approach during the design, planning, implementation and plant establishment stages of any project. We document the design process at every stage, ensuring that we and the client have peace of mind about the process and a complete record of all decisions made.
We can work directly with you, or will happily work throughout the process with architects, property developers, interior designers and estate managers.
Our Garden Design Process
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This stage focuses on developing a detailed understanding of your tastes, aspirations and problems you wish to resolve. We’ll always be upfront about costs, to help give you reassurance that our designs are practical.
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The aim of this phase is to gather the correct information in order to make informed design decisions. What exactly is included is project specific but it will always involve a measured survey, analysis of shade, property proportion and soil as well as high level ecological research.
Further work such as detailed ecological reports, historical reports or a tree survey will be organised if the project requires it.
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The aim of this phase is to find the best spatial layout for you and create a strong visual concept for your new place. There will be several stages - from an initial presentation to pegging out the design in situ - all of which help give you confidence in the design you choose.
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Once the concept proposal has been approved, we go into details such as exact hard landscaping paving as well tree and structural shrub species. You’ll be sent samples of key materials and mood boards of key plants to review and sign off.
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Once you have chosen the layout, materials and key plants we produce the technical pack of drawings so a landscaper can accurately cost and build the design to a high standard. This includes technical drawings, accompanying specifications, a scope of works and legal required health and safety documents.
If planning is required, the work to do so is typically done during this stage.
We can also offer to managing a tender/costing process or support with costing or value engineering at hourly rates.
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First, we’ll start with some visuals showing different planting styles to make sure the brief is completely clear. Then, we’ll move into seasonal boards with a long list of possible plants by season for your consideration.
After meeting, we’ll produce the final outputs to paint the landscape with life. These will be a detailed planting plans and visual boards for each area of the garden to ensure the accurate number of plants are bought and they site beautifully next to each other for best effect.
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Once the design is finalised and your contractor selected, we can further minimise stress by overseeing the build.
This helps ensure any issues are solved as they arise and before they escalate. We can also source plants, trees and any garden accessories during this stage at preferential prices.
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Once the main design is installed, we will then source the remaining plants for you. We can also plant the garden. I work with trusted horticulturalists and offer plants to my clients at preferential prices.
At the end of the installation you will receive an establishment guide and the team can arrange monitoring visits. Other services, such as garden stewardship, gardener sourcing and gardening coaching, are available and are tailored to your requirements.
Locations
Garden design & planting projects are undertaken across London, Surrey and selected locations beyond. Our Garden Stewardship service is focused within Richmond, Kingston and Elmbridge, within roughly a 5 mile radius of KT8. For projects outside this area we can support with finding a gardener once the garden is installed. If you are considering a project, we would be pleased to hear from you.
