How many gardens are designed?

Many gardens we visit have evolved over time with little evidence of an overall plan. These gardens often have no sense of theme, are unbalanced, make little use of any natural features, and ignore problems such as poor soil or bad drainage.

Why should you have a design your garden?

No matter how big or how small, all gardens and their owners are unique. Which way does your garden face? How much sun does it get and at what times of day? What is the condition of the soil? What sort of things would you like in your garden? What sort of things have you seen that fancy and will they work? Do you know how to start? Do you need someone with some flair and imagination to help you? All of these questions should be answered if you have a design for your garden.

Why use a garden designer?

A good garden designer should be able to listen to your thoughts and ideas and get a good undserstanding of your likes and dislikes. The designer should then be able to look at your garden and come up with a design that is right for your site and meets your dreams for your garden. It is very important that whatever is designed for your garden can actually be built, fits your budget, and gives you what you are looking for.

Landscaping companies will often rely on the client to give them firm direction regarding the design before they produce a plan of what they will do in your garden and a price. Some landscaping companies have designers, but not many. If you are quite happy about doing the design yourself then this should not matter.

If you establish one design first, normally a very small investment compared to building your garden, you will receive quotations for the same garden that you can compare, and most importantly you will end up with a garden that you really wanted from the start of the process. A good designer can help you with advice on what price you can expect to pay for your garden and what landscapers would be recommended to quote for the build. You may want your designer to take over the whole process for you from engaging a landscaper, supervising the build, and organising your ongoing garden maintenance.

Why use Plots and Plants?

Plots and Plants have an excellent track record of designing and building high quality gardens in Portsmouth for over 15 years. Our qualified Garden Designer, Peter Davis, will make a 'no obligation' consultation which is normally free of charge and typically takes a couple of hours, which involves the following.

• a visit to your garden
• a site survey
• site photography and video footage
• a consultation to listen to your ideas
• a checklist to establish your likes and dislikes, ideas, and facts about the garden
• a demonstration of a 3D walkthrough of a garden design
• a review of photography of other gardens and testimonials

How much will it cost? How long will it take?

At the end of this consultation Peter will let you know what can be done for you and how much it will cost. Typically the cost of a design will range from £100 for a small simple courtyard garden, to £200 for an average sized urban garden, through to £300 for a larger garden with lots of challenges to overcome.

There are a number of other areas which Peter can help you with such as:

• provision of planting plans
• guidance on budget and pricing
• selection of landscapers
• management of build

What happens next? What do I get?

Peter will book an appointment with you to return, normally within seven days. He will produce a Garden Design for you which will consist of the following.

• photographs of your garden
• annotated colour Garden Design in A3 size using computer technology
• several copies of a landscapers version of your Garden Design in A3 size with dimensions and areas added
• construction notes on how your garden should be built
• a 3D walkthrough of your new garden
• planting plans (optional)
• pricing guidance (optional)

Once you have your design Peter will be delighted to help you with any aspects of having your garden built.

Peter Davis Dip GD (InstGD) Director and Garden Designer - Plots and Plants Limited