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One of the greatest pleasures of being a garden designer is being given the chance to tackle garden projects that are as diverse & unique as snowflakes. From tiny courtyards to open vistas, the application of your skill in bringing forth the best in the landscape is right at the top of great jobs that you can have. In your mind’s eye you sit at the same table as the great designers such as Andre Le Notre & Humphry Repton (though a long way ‘below the salt’) & looking at any landscape I can see the shapes in the land & the potential that is hidden. It is my job to share a vision with the client & draw out the best qualities of the site.
It is true that there are many designs that can come out of a garden & the process of consultation, sketching, discussion & creation is, in some cases, necessarily complex. This design development strategy always produces the best gardens, because after all the construction & planting the designer will leave the client with the garden of their choice, not the designers garden. The first part of the design process for me is to ask what you want to do in your garden, not what do you want it to look like. The architect Le Corbusier followed the maxim “ form follows function” which means that the object or space being designed should be suitable for the desired use first & the look or aesthetic should follow after. Many gardens suffer from a set of unofficial ‘rules’ that should not be taken as gospel truth at all times. The first is that the patio should be placed at the back of the house & laid square to the back wall, usually with complete disregard for aspect, comfort or use. Your patio should be where you sit & this depends entirely on the aspect & use in your particular garden. Secondly, that the garden should be “low maintenance” & hence should contain nothing but evergreen shrubs & the occasional rose. Sadly for those of us that exist in a ‘wipe clean’ world, some maintenance is always required in a garden, low maintenance is not NO maintenance. Evergreen shrubs may not need much looking after in the short term, but once they get their roots in the soil you will have no space in the garden to play & no light to see by. A bed of perennials planted with a weed suppressing mulch will require minimal regular maintenance & will look cracking all the time you are using the garden. It is also easy to change, as you won’t need a tree surgeon to clear the forest & a JCB to remove the roots afterwards. Thirdly, that a single feature or object can be successfully placed in a garden with no reference to either the existing garden or surroundings. It is so difficult to buy an off the peg feature that will blend seamlessly but if the design work is done first then areas can be designed to accept a selection of features without compromising the overall feeling of unity. A garden is the space in which your home (& taste) meet with the surrounding area, & a professional designer will provide you with a design that meets your needs, blends with the surroundings & gives you a new perspective on the garden around you. |
