Garden and landscape design is a process that requires a number of different stages. There is a lot to think about when planning to transform your garden and seeking the services of a professional garden designer. We answer some of the most frequently asked garden design questions below.
We create exquisitely planted, detailed, and finished contemporary gardens that are naturalistically planted (responding to the site, expanding natural habitats, and artfully juxtaposing geometry against natural disorder), and that are uniquely beautiful and enduring spaces for people and nature to coexist.
Yes. We can offer a consultation or advice service where we will visit your garden to discuss your site and provide you with ideas and inspiration. We charge for this service at an hourly rate.
This is almost impossible to answer as it depends on the scale of your garden and the complexity of your requirements. Our design process can be found on our Design page.
As a quick guide, once we begin designing your garden, the initial concept design should be completed in 3 to 4 weeks. Subsequent stages may then take another 4 to 8 weeks to complete (once you confirm that you are happy to proceed).
Once all of the design work is complete, we can then work with you to get a quotation for the landscaping works. If planning permission is required, this will take substantially longer subject to local council lead times.
We cover all of Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and the North of England. We are also happy work anywhere in the UK. Please do not hesitate to call us for an initial chat so we can understand your requirements, and how this will work with where your garden is located.
We will visit your garden several times over the course of the design process. This includes our initial meeting as well as visiting to undertake a site analysis, alongside any other visits needed to produce the best design possible for your garden.
We also monitor the garden when landscaping works are underway to ensure the garden is built to the same specification as the design, overseeing the project through to completion.
We will produce a 3D visualisation of your garden design to allow you to get a clearer understanding of the intended design. However, where complex photorealistic models are required, this is charged for as an additional service.
As soon as you start thinking about the building works is best. This will make sure that your garden can be built once the building work is completed. We can also ensure that what you want in your garden is considered by your architect – from complimentary materials being specified to ensuring that the new damp proof course allows for a seamless transition from house to garden, for example.
Yes we can. We will deal with any planning applications for gardens which we have designed – from applications for works within the curtilage of Listed buildings to works within Conservation Areas.
We are accredited by the Society of Garden Designers (SGD) as a Registered Practice and Matt is a fully Registered Member of the SGD – one of only around 200 MSGD’s in the UK. Matt is also accredited as a designer by the British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) and the Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) , and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture.
A biodiverse garden is one designed to seek to maximise biodiversity within the space – usually using plants to create a variety of habitats and their eco-tones (the boundaries between habitat types that throng with life). It is a garden that seeks to balance the needs of the people who use it with the wildlife whose home it is – through planting, correct maintenance, the avoidance of poisons (the “-icides”), and especially by encouraging humans into the space to relax and enjoy.
We work as a team so all members of the practice may be involved in the design work; however Matt is personally involved at every stage of the design process. Although one member of the team may take the lead with a particular design everyone will have an input to the design to ensure we produce the highest quality of design work.
That depends…in order to create a garden design there are certain stages that must be followed to create a workable design. However it is possible to create a Masterplan, without then producing associated planting plans and the drawings for landscapers to set out you space, if you do not intend to build your garden in the near future.
We will help you to navigate this after the design has been completed. Accredited and approved contractors can also be found by searching the websites of BALI (the British Association of Landscape Industries) and the APL (the Association of Professional Landscapers). We are here to guide you through the creation of your new garden from concept to completion.
We have close relationships with the best wholesale nurseries across the UK and can supply the best quality plants at competitive prices – much cheaper than at garden centres. We are here to help you create your new garden from concept to completion.
That depends on the sizes purchased as we can plant more mature stock for an instant impact. Generally however we would advice that shrubs and perennials are specified at smaller sizes as they will mature within a few years. However trees are specified at least at standard size and hedges will be specified to be the height you need them to be to realise the design. The bigger the plants though the more water they will require in their first few seasons.
It takes time for plants to grow to the size you wish and for them to settle ‘comfortably’ into the garden after being planted. Most of the time your garden will start to feel mature after 2 – 5 years although sometimes we will create gardens that take much longer to mature (if the client is on a tight budget, for example) or we can create something with a much quicker impact if the funds to buy more mature plants are available – so ultimately that choice is yours.
That depends usually on the size of your garden and the scale of the planting. However this is something we always discuss at the design brief to seek to match the design to your availability (or that of your gardeners). We do not offer a garden maintenance service but we can provide detailed maintenance plans should you require them.
The main difference is one of training and accreditation but often also in the types of projects undertaken – a garden designer will tend to work on private residential schemes whereas a landscape architect may work on more commercial sites. Matt is a fully accredited garden designer and our multi-disciplinary team also includes a trained landscape architect.