Why garden design should come before construction, and how a structured process leads to more cohesive, enduring landscapes.

The masterplan is where a garden becomes clear — establishing structure, movement and spatial relationships before detail is resolved.

A considered approach to garden design investment, and how structure, process and detail shape the success of a project.

Sandy loam soils, found in parts of Cheshire and the Wirral, offer excellent growing conditions when approached with understanding and restraint. Free-draining and workable, they support a wide range of planting — from light-canopied trees to textural grasses — but require careful soil preparation and moisture management. A considered, layered planting scheme allows sandy loam gardens to establish quickly and mature with quiet resilience.

Ideal for new build gardens, where the soil is generally imported, parts can be free draining/very boggy /patches of ground that have a higher lime content from submerged debris left behind as part of the build process.

I wanted to show that a new build garden doesn’t have to be a lawn with 3 narrow tidy borders. They can be full and naturalistic and still be super simple to maintain.

If you are investing in your garden, then a recessed manhole cover is a complete no brainer. Why ruin a carefully thought out scheme for the sake of a small 'saving'? Saving is a word I question with clients. Yes, it may well appear to be slightly less expensive to leave the cover as it is and ask your landscaper to work around it. But, by not having the seamless finish seen in the first pic, really you are devaluing and uglifying (not a word, but you know what I mean) all the effort and money and time put into creating your dream outdoor space.

It All Begins Here

what to put in a design brief for a garden designer