I always try to manage my clients expectations and this is never more crucial than during the construction phase of a project because it really does get a lot worse before it starts to get better.

The build for this project should last for another 3 weeks and although it doesn’t look more than a pile of mud at the moment, we’re actually on track for planting at the beginning of May.  This particular site is quite sloped so I have been working closely with my landscaper to ensure that the levels will work.

We’ve had to tweak them a bit because we don’t want to compromise the existing trees that are integral to the design, but it’s all starting to take shape now.

I guess I just wanted to share the glamour of the construction phase of a garden project – it might look like a bomb’s hit it, but in a couple of weeks time when I share the “after” pictures, you’ll wonder what all the fuss was about.  Now I’m keeping everything crossed that the rain stays away…we need a some bright windy days to dry everything out again….please!

Here’s a reminder of how it looked when I first met my clients…

Pretty overgrown and very difficult to see the scope of the garden.  So, now that the clearance work has taken place you can really see how large the plot actually is.

The weeping willow was also pruned during the winter but it will soon fill out again – it looks a bit bare because the leaves have come back yet.

The school behind is a bit of an eye sore but the large conifer that was screening this view originally was not only swamping the gorgeous willow tree, but also taking up around 5 metres of the garden.  It doesn’t help that there aren’t any leaves on the trees, but we do have plans to put in some screening plants that will cover it up eventually.

Taking out the other leylandii has also helped to bring more light into the garden and open it up.  We have plans to plant some more ornamental trees which will add height without blocking out all the light.

So, I’ll leave you with a few images of how it will look when it’s done.  The build should be relatively fast because we’re using simple retaining structures for the changes in levels and I am hoping to plant at the end of April.  Now all we need is a bit of luck with the weather – it was snowing yesterday afternoon!

This is how the garden looks now…

My clients also want to make the garden future proof.  They are retired and will be living in the house for the foreseeable future, but if they do decide to move in a few years time, they want any investment they make to enhance the saleability of the house.

Parking is restricted to residents only at certain times of the day so it would also be helpful if there was enough room on the driveway to fit two cars.

Here’s the design…

As you can see, the new layout is really simple.  There’s a limit to what you can do with a small front garden, especially when it needs to be practical, but you’ll notice that the left hand side of the driveway is in line with the edge of the house.  This will make the route to the front door much more inviting.

We are currently looking at driveway materials, but it’s likely to be gravel with York Stone paving and steps near the house and York Stone cobbles at the driveway threshold.  Following my meeting with them last week, we are going to make the right hand bed slightly larger so that the view from the lounge windows is predominantly across the planting.

The bed on the left hand side will be really simple – a clipped yew hedge at the back and low box hedging at the front.  The multi-stem tree on the right hand side will replace the Lime tree that will be taken down.

The key to designing a successful front garden is to keep it simple.  It should be functional but also provide some curb appeal and enhance the look of the house.  I’m really looking forward to seeing the transformation.

Contrary to popular belief, we garden designers don’t spend as much time outside as people expect.  The weather can pose a challenge with the build phase of projects, especially over the last year with all the rain we’ve had, but it doesn’t stop me from designing.

So what are a garden designer’s tools?  In my case, they very rarely involve a spade, fork or trowel, although I do get my hands dirty during the planting phase of my projects.

At the moment I hand draw my designs so my tools include a pencil, eraser, tracing paper, graph paper, scale rule, ruler, compass, set square, technical pens and a drawing board.

I’m currently considering moving across to a CAD (Computer Aided Design) system, but I know that I will always need a pencil and paper to get things started and of course to put together the concept sketches for my clients.

So you see, the use of these tools aren’t really impacted by the weather unless I am surveying and need to draw on site.   But I won’t be complaining if we get lovely warm dry weather for at least some of the coming months…wouldn’t it be nice if we could sit out and enjoy our gardens this year!

As you can see, the main part of the garden is away from the house so the terrace area really is the linking space between the house and the garden.  It’s a large garden, around 800 square metres in total.

The garden now is looking tired and the building work has changed the areas around the house quite significantly.  There is a new extension at the side of the house and this of course has impacted the area where the terrace will go.

I thought it would be nice to show you a series of pictures of how it looks now and how it will look when the new garden is implemented…

This is the area where the main terrace will be situated and, as you can see, there are some rather ugly buildings to screen beyond the boundary.  This is an old coach works which is used by a local car mechanic.

You should just about see the garage on the left side of the picture.  This will remain in place, but will be revamped with a covered gazebo-style sitting area on the front…

The new planting beds will soften the marriage between the paving and the house wall and define the main terrace from the rest of the garden.

It was important to determine the boundary between front and back gardens so part of my brief was to deal with the marriage between the two.

My clients have a dog so they wanted all the boundaries to be secure, whilst allowing easy access from front to back garden.

This is the view from their new kitchen right now – a shame that the mobile home is in the way, but I hope you’ll see that the large conifers are not really adding anything to the picture.

As you can see, the main part of the garden will be quite informal, a large sweeping lawn with planting and new trees to help with screening.  You can just about make out the wildlife pond on the right hand side which will be the main focus of the garden.

At the moment, as you’ll see from the picture below, the main area of the garden is predominantly lawn, with some unattractive shrubbery around the edges.

The large conifers on the boundary aren’t really screening where they need to be (i.e. between the top of the fence and the canopy of the trees) and are unattractive and quite imposing.  These trees will be taken out and replaced with something more ornamental and in keeping with the wildlife-theme of the garden…

I hope you like the proposed plans?  I think it will be quite a transformation when it’s all finished.  My clients are now taking the project forward themselves, but they have promised to send me some pictures along the way.  It will be lovely to see how it’s progressing!

The area is also home to three large and unattractive Lime Trees which have been pruned really badly over the years.  The decision has already been made to remove the trees, but they now want some help to replace them with something more appropriate.  We agreed that I would offer them three different concept design ideas to consider.

It wasn’t until I surveyed the plot that I realised just how big it is, almost as big as my garden in fact, so I felt that each design should allow movement through the space as well as provide a welcoming entrance to the estate.

Concept One

Concept one is the most formal.  This scheme links back to the brick and flint arches that are positioned either side of the road as you enter the estate.  The archways at the back of the area mirror the entrance but also provide a frame for a bench seat.

The pathways are informal but allow movement around the space and will make maintenance easier. The planting would be low and structural, with some topiary to mirror a large clipped Yew in the garden of a neighbouring house.

Concept Two

Concept two is simpler in design, with the main feature being an ornamental tree in the middle of the plot.  This would be something that offers interest all year round, blossom in the spring, good autumn colour and nice bark for winter interest.

Again, the pathways allow residents to walk through the space.  The planting would be low maintenance, but interesting and predominantly evergreen for year round interest.

Concept Three

Concept three is the least formal.  Three ornamental trees would be planted with woodland style informal planting.  The trees would be more appropriate for the space, something like Betula utilis var. jacquemontii which has amazing white bark, or Prunus serrula which has gorgeous mahogany bark.

What happens now?

All three designs were presented at a recent meeting and the decision has been made at this stage to take out the Lime trees initially and then clear the site.  This will allow them time to consider all three options and establish which scheme best fits in with all the residents.

So, I have been “stood down” for now but will look forward to hearing from them when they’re ready to move on to the next stage.

We started with coffee and homemade muesli bars which set up the day very well and we then walked through how to take a design brief which is one of the most important parts of the design process.

We went through a list of questions to ask and we also talked about creating mood boards as this really helps to give a clear picture the look and feel your garden should have.

We spent some time doing this together – it’s a very therapeutic thing to do too – takes you back to your crafty days at school!

We then walked through the basic design principles. how to get started and how to apply these to a blank sheet of paper.  I find the easiest way to demonstrate this thought process is to work through a basic design together.  That way it’s easier to see how the layers build up and also makes the session a bit more interactive.

After a fabulous lunch, very kindly prepared by Debbie Blott, founder of The Decor Cafe, we set to work at designing one of my previous projects.  I handed out a short design brief, copy of the survey and photographs of the site.

We then critiqued each person’s design together, talking through what worked and what didn’t.  This is such a powerful part of the learning process and it’s always really interesting to see how different people approach the design of the same space.

At the end of the day I walked through my version of the design, the thought process behind it and I also showed some photographs of the finished garden.

We had great feedback from everyone who attended and I’m looking forward to our follow-up session in a couple of weeks time.  This will give people chance to apply the skills they’ve learned to their own garden and bring the design back with them to review with me.

Our next workshop is scheduled to take place on 14th March.  For further details and to book your place, please go to The Decor Cafe website.

Weather permitting, the construction should last for approximately four weeks which of course is perfect timing to get the plants in the ground ready for my clients to enjoy their garden in the summer.

As you may know already, I always put together a presentation of the planting scheme through the seasons because it can sometimes be difficult for clients to visualise the finished garden from a two dimensional planting plan.

My clients wanted a planting scheme with the emphasis on summer, soft foliage and blues, pinks, lilacs and other soft pastel shades.  I have tried to continue this into the other seasons as far as possible so the spring palette includes plants such Peonia lactiflora ‘Sarah Bernhardt and Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’.

As we come into the summer there are hydrangeas, lavender, roses and perennials such as geranium and penstemon.  Many of the shrubs have softer foliage so although there are evergeen shrubs for structure, I have also chosen deciduous shrubs that will continue the softer summery feel.

As autumn arrives, some of the summer perennials will still be flowering.  Penstemon and Geranium ‘Rozanne’ have a very long flowering period and often go on until the first frosts.  Shrubs such as Ceratostigma x willmotianum will bring colour and texture to the planting when the foliage changes colour too.

In winter the evergeen shrubs will come into their own especially the scented species such as the Christmas Box (Sarcococca confusa).  Some early flowering bulbs such as Narcissus ‘February Gold’ and snowdrops will help to bring interest to the soil where perennials have died back.

So, all the planning has been done and now all we need is a few months of good weather to help the build phase along.  I’ll be sure to share the progress of that with you and of course pictures of the finished garden too.

The previous owner of this house had a motorbike so the front garden was block-paved so that the bike could be kept off the road.  As you can see, it’s not very attractive and currently the rubbish bins are the focal point from the road.

Rubbish is often a problem too because the front is open where the garden meets the pavement.

The new design will incorporate some steps to deal with the slope and to provide a better definition of the boundary.

Because the front door is at an angle to the front of the house I am proposing that the threshold step covers the whole area in front of the door.  This will make the approach seem much more welcoming.

The bins will be stored away from the house and so that they can easily be moved out when the rubbish is collected.

The planting will be simple, tidy and low maintenance.  Front gardens should look good all year round and be easy to maintain.  They are of course seen and walked through every day, whatever the weather and whatever time of day, but they need to pretty much take care of themselves.

2012 has a been a great year for me and looking back this morning through my diary I realise just how far I’ve come as a designer.  It was also good to be reminded that I have achieved some significant changes personally which have really allowed me to grow. Here are my highlights…

 Chelsea Flower Show

If you’ve been reading my blog throughout the year then you’ll know just how excited I was to be asked to design the Show Stand for English Garden Joinery.  It was hard work, but well worth all the effort as we were presented with an Award of Merit, the highest accolade for a stand of its size.

The whole experience was really educational too, I had to get to grips with PR and writing press releases and despite being a bit late to get going, we did manage a couple of features in local newspapers and magazines.

We’re hoping to exhibit again in 2013 so I’ll keep you posted!

Working in France

The most exciting and challenging project of the year was the garden near La Rochelle in France.  Apart from the fact that I was able to work overseas, this project has been particularly interesting because my clients are also building a brand new house.

Work is underway with the new house now and I know that my client has been planting up some of the less formal areas away from the house.  I hope to be able to share some pictures with you at some point soon.

You can read more about this project here.

Photography

I’ve been interested in photography for years but it is only really since I have been writing my blog that I have taken it a bit more seriously.  I think the images are one of the key elements to my posts and, now that I believe I am taking better photographs, I look back at some of my early pictures and they just don’t come up to scratch!

Having attended a course last year on getting to grips with my camera, I went to one of Clive Nichols workshops at Wakehurst Place.  This was a turning point for me because we focused heavily on using natural light and composing the photographs.

Garden visits

Writing my blog has made me get out and explore other gardens – something I always intended to do before, but never seemed to get around to.  There wasn’t much opportnity to visit gardens this year, mostly because of the weather, but there was one that truly stole my heart and that was Gresgarth Hall in Lancashire.

Visiting gardens is so important to keep the passion alive and it’s always great to see gardens that have been designed by a professional.  Even if you have a trek to get there, it’s well worth the effort.

I wrote the blog post about this visit in two parts: Part one – The house and Part two – The garden

Personal Milestones

There have been two huge milestones for me this year which have changed my world.  The first was a course I attended early on in the year called The Lightning Process, originally developed to help people suffering from ME and chronic fatigue.  I met Heather Thomas through a networking group and when I took the time to learn a bit more about the training that she delivered, I became very interested in doing the course myself.

I had for years been petrified of speaking in public and at the various networking groups I had been attending, I was becoming more and more nervous about delivering my monthly pitch.  I had also been asked to speak at a couple of local events and I knew that I had to do something to try and overcome my fear if I was to move my business forward.

The three days I spent with Heather have completely changed my life.  Shortly after the course I delivered a 10-minute talk and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  No out of body experiences where I was scared of forgetting my lines!  I have since delivered workshops and spoken at other network meetings and I’m looking forward to future opportunities.

And the last personal achievement I want to share is my weight loss which I have battled with for years.  A friend of mine introduced me to MyFitnessPal and since August I have lost two stone without finding it particularly challenging.  I am inspired and determined to keep going now – I’ll probably need some new headshots with the brilliant Vicki Knights when I’m done!

Happy New Year!

I hope you’ve had a fabulous year too and I’d love to hear about your highlights if you feel like sharing them.

Thank you all for reading my blog and I send you all good wishes for a very happy and prosperous 2013!