Services

Why use a professional Garden Designer?

Because we have high expectations of our outdoor spaces, it's a room outside,a valuable asset and probably bigger than any room in your house, having it professionaly designed will transform it into the best room.

The beauty of gardens is that they have lots of different uses and they change through the seasons, but this can also be a challenge.

A trained Designer will listen to what you want, tailor the design to your style and budget, applying experience and expertise to guide you through the whole process. As if that's not enough, investing in a well designed garden will add value to your property.

Our lead designer, Jill Anderson, is trained in both garden design and horticulture so is best placed to enhance every aspect of your garden. She has been commissioned to write a book, with a colleague, about Planting Design, to be published next year.

Complete Design and Build:

The first step is to book a Design Consultation with Jill Anderson, the Principal Designer. During the meeting, lasting about one hour, she will listen to you and give an honest appraisal of your garden, ideas about changes to the lay-out, suitable plants and how the garden can be developed to reach full potential. Above all, how the changes can be tailored to suit you and your budget.

A fee of £65 is charged for this Consultation, and is off-set against any further design work that is commissioned. Travel costs may apply to appointments beyond a 5 mile radius of the office.

This is also an opportunity to see our portfolio of varied projects, showing the design process from beginning to completion, and an idea of the budgets for these gardens.

Following this meeting we will send you details of the Design Fee to Master Plan stage, and a brief report of the garden. This includes all the main objectives and proposed changes, indicating any problem areas and how they can be solved.

You may have enough ideas and be competent to carry out the work yourselves, but if you want us to proceed we ask for a 50% deposit of the Design Fee. The balance is paid on the receipt of the Master Plan. With all the paperwork in place, your Garden Project will be booked into our Timetable. The process of how we transform your garden is outlined below:

1. The Brief: this follows on from the previous meeting, the aim is to consider all the possibilities and to make sure that all your requirements are incorporated into the Design.This is an enjoyable beginning to the process of how your garden can be transformed into either a family friendly garden, a relaxing place to entertain friends or a peaceful oasis to return to at the end of a busy day. Don't worry if you're not too sure what you want, we'll listen to your requirements and use our experience and skills to help you to see the possibilities.

A written copy of the Brief will be sent for your approval before we start work on the next stage.

2. The Survey: Once stage one is agreed, the survey and site appraisal are carried out to produce a scaled plan of the existing garden. This is a vital document because the new design and all calculations are based on it. It includes measurements of the site, existing features and changes in levels. Simple sites are surveyed by us, though a more complex one will require a professional land surveyor.

3. The Draft Plan: An outline plan is drawn to scale, developed using information from the previous stages. Samples of materials and sketches are included to help you visualise what your new garden will look like. This is the opportunity to discuss the proposals and make minor changes where necessary, avoiding costly amendments at a later stage.

4. The Master Plan: This is the final drawing, a detailed coloured Plan showing the new lay-out including paths, paving, planted areas, plant list, structures such as pergolas, arbours and sheds, existing and new features such as ponds.

5 Building The Garden: Once the final Plan has been approved. construction plans are drawn up for the contractor. These drawings, together with the detailed written Specification provide the builder with the information necessary to complete the work. We act as your representative on site, briefing the contractor and monitoring the building of the garden by regular site visits to ensure that the design is realised. We collaborate with you and the contractor for the best possible results.

6. The Planting Plan: A detailed lay-out and schedule of appropriate plants to suit your garden, their size, exact numbers and location in the garden. We will supply and install good quality plants from trusted nurseries that we use regularly.

7. Supply of Sundries: We also provide garden furniture, plant containers, play equipment and all the items that are necessary to suit your style and bring the design together.

8 Maintenance Schedule: A garden is organic and develops continually over time, so it makes sense to have a plan to help you manage the garden. The schedule comprises a month-by-month timetable of how to care for your plants and what to do to keep the garden looking lovely. As the garden develops we can review and advise about the on-going care by making regular visits.

Planting Plans:

If you want help to improve the plants in your garden, then this is the service for you.

Do you want a vegetable garden, planting at boundaries to enhance security, or tips to encourage beneficial wildlife, does the planting need to be child or pet friendly?

The first visit will be to discuss the challenges you have with the plants in your garden, perhaps they aren't thriving, or the colours look wrong together. We can help by advising the best type of plants for screening, or simply what will look good and be easy to look after.

A fee of £65 is charged for this Consultation, and is off-set against any further work on the Planting Plan. Travel costs may apply to appouintments beyond a 5 mile radius of the office.

A Proposal outlining our plans and including the cost of the design will be sent before work on the Planting Plan begins. If you want us to proceed we ask for a 50% deposit of the Fee, the balance is paid on receipt of the Planting Plan.

The Planting Plan will include appropriate plants that suit the soil, weather conditions and fit in with the surrounding landscape. There will be a full description and pictures of plants, plant names and quantities, and their exact location in the garden.

Good quality plants can be competitively sourced from our favourite nurseries and planted for you by skilled gardeners.

Maintenance Schedule, a month-by-month plan detailing exactly what needs to be done to keep the plants looking their best. We can review the planting as it develops by making regular visits.

Anderson Landscape Design carries full Public Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurance.

Phone 01483 890079 for more information or use the email reply form on the Contacts page