FAQs

Investing in your garden is an exciting process, and you likely have questions about how a professional design studio works. Below, you will find answers regarding my services, design methodology, and project logistics. 

If your question isn’t covered here, please feel free to reach out via email or WhatsApp.

Choosing the Right Service:

Who is a Walk and Talk session aimed at?

This session is for homeowners who want expert verbal guidance without committing to written reports or scaled design drawings. It is specifically designed for people who want to:

• Survey what they have: Walk the site to learn about your garden's unique attributes, soil, microclimates, aspect, structure and existing planting.

• Solve specific dilemmas: Get immediate, on-site expert advice regarding layout ideas, plant issues, or design possibilities.

• Test the waters: Explore your aspirations and budget limitations before committing to a more comprehensive service.

• Stay completely flexible: Take your own custom notes at your own pace, with absolutely no obligation to proceed further.

Who is a Garden Consultation aimed at?

This service does not include technical scale designs. Instead, it is specifically designed for people who want to:

• Understand their space: Learn about their unique soil, microclimates, and existing plants.

• Get expert direction: Receive professional suggestions for improving layout, materials, and plant combinations.

• Stay in control: Take a detailed, bespoke written report and bring the ideas to life at their own pace.

Do I have to be rethinking my whole garden to have a consultation?

Not at all. We can focus entirely on the areas that need the most attention. I offer two distinct approaches depending on your project's scope:

• Whole Garden Consultations: Ideal if you want a complete structural overview, help with a tricky layout, or a cohesive report for the entire property.

• Individual Border Consultations: Perfect if you are happy with the overall layout of your garden but have specific beds, borders, or problem zones that need a refresh.

(Note: If you are looking for a Planting Design but want to keep and work around some of your existing mature plants, a Border Consultation is the essential first step. It allows me to thoroughly audit your current plants and ensure the new design integrates beautifully.)

Who is a Whole Garden Concept Design aimed at?

This package is for homeowners looking for a complete transformation and a clear scale plan for their entire outdoor space. It is specifically designed for people who want to:

• Resolve tricky layouts: Fix awkward angles, slopes, or confusing spaces with a professional, cohesive structure.

• Explore creative options: Visually test out different ideas using collaborative discussions, sketches and mood boards.

• Get a plan to work from: Receive a precise, to-scale layout plan of all proposed garden features and structural planting.

Does a Concept Design include construction details and setting out plans?

No. This package provides a precise scale layout plan rather than engineering blueprints.

• What it shows: The exact footprint, location, and flow of patios, paths, lawns, structures, and beds.

• What it excludes: Technical build instructions like foundation depths, structural engineering, or exact brick-by-brick measurements.

• The Benefit: Leaving these technical details to your contractor ensures they can work using the specific building methods and materials they are most comfortable with, often saving you time and money during construction.

Who is a Planting Design aimed at?

This service is for clients who are happy with the structural layout of their garden (such as where patios, paths, and lawns sit) but want to transform the aesthetic, and ecological success of their living borders. 

It is specifically designed for people who want to:

• Refresh existing borders: Thoughtfully integrate new form, texture, and colour around the mature plants you already love. (Note - for this a Border Consultation is the essential first step. It allows me to thoroughly audit your current plants and ensure the new design integrates beautifully.)

• Design from scratch: Create an entirely fresh, bespoke planting scheme for new or cleared garden beds.

• Get exact botanical specifications: Receive a precise, to-scale layout detailing exact varieties, quantities, and optimal pot sizes so you know exactly what to buy.

• Ensure long-term growth: Secure localised soil enhancement recommendations and a dedicated Year 1 watering regime to help your borders thrive.

Who is a Specialist Maintenance Plan aimed at?

This audit is for clients who already have an established garden but want expert, scientific guidance on how to preserve, manage, and elevate its health and presentation across the seasons. 

It is specifically designed for people who want to:

• Manage mature features: Confidently care for complex, established areas like herbaceous borders, tree/shrub collections, ponds, meadows, or woodland gardens.

• Remove timing guesswork: Receive a bespoke care calendar scheduling tasks and inputs over the seasons.

• Protect their investment: Audit the current health and vitality of your garden to spot issues and suggest solutions early.

• Source the right gear: Get expert, professional advice on the correct tools and equipment to buy or hire for the job.

Logistics & Implementation:

Do you handle the physical landscaping and construction?

No, I specialise strictly in the consultation, concept layout, and planting design stages. I act as your designer and advisor rather than a hard landscaper. 

Do you survey the garden for your scale plans?

This depends entirely on the size, scale, and complexity of your outdoor space. We look at each plot individually to find the best method:

• Small-to-medium gardens: I will map the site layout during our site visit using a professional measuring wheel to establish the boundaries of your garden area.

• Individual garden features: Specific borders, pathways, and other localised features are easily surveyed using this same method as part of your standard design package.

• Large or complex plots: If your land is expansive, contains numerous mature trees, or features significant slopes and ground level changes, I highly recommend commissioning a professional topographic surveyor.

• Why a specialist helps: A professional land surveyor has specialised digital equipment to map complicated terrain faster and with absolute precision—which ultimately saves you time and reduces overall design and construction risks.

Can I approach the garden design in phases?

Yes, my service options are designed so they can be used as a buildable package, you may have a consultation one year, then a concept design and/or planting plans in following years. This can help spread the cost but will incur my minimum charges each time. 

The only exception to this is if you convert from a Whole Garden Consultation to a Whole Garden Concept Design within 12 months. The cost of your concept plan would then be reduced by 75% of the cost of your previous Whole Garden Consultation. The 12-month limit ensures that the site data I am working from is fresh and accurate.

Can I install the garden in phases?

Yes, of course. Many clients prefer to build or plant their garden over a few seasons or years to spread the cost. 

Because I solely handle the consultation, design and sourcing, this leaves you free to book a landscape contractor to execute in logical stages whenever you are ready, or even install yourself.

Do you offer plant sourcing and placement services?

Yes. I can provide support with this, aiding the transition from design to reality through:

• Wholesale nursery sourcing: I handle the ordering process, utilising my industry connections to source high-quality specimens at trade pricing.

• Direct-to-site delivery: I coordinate the logistics to have all your varieties safely delivered straight to your home.

• Professional on-site placement: I can layout plants across your borders, ensuring they are spaced according to the plan.

• Supervised planting days: I provide expert on-site assistance to oversee the planting, ensuring soil preparation and planting depths are exactly right.

(Note: This comprehensive service is optional and strictly an add-on to my core services; it is priced on application depending on the scale of your project).

Gardening Care & Budgets:

I am not a confident gardener. Will I be able to keep this garden alive?

Absolutely. My services are client-led, meaning your personal gardening confidence is factored into the design from day one. To set you up for long-term success, I ensure that I:

• Tailor plant selections: Design a plant community that matches your lifestyle, gardening experience and available horticultural support.

• Maximise ecological success: Use my expertise to place the right plant in the right spot, which naturally reduces the need for complicated human intervention.

• Provide establishing guidance: Include a Year 1 watering regime and localised soil enhancement recommendations with our planting layouts.

• Offer maintenance guidelines: Commissioning one of my Specialist Maintenance Plans can take away any remaining guesswork.

What if I don't know what my budget is yet?

Don't worry—helping you figure that out is a natural part of our initial collaboration. I help you navigate the financial side of your project by ensuring I:

• Talk numbers early: Discuss your aspirations alongside realistic design, material and plant costs when we first meet.

• Establish comfort zones: Help you find a comfortable investment level before you commit to any large-scale concept design packages.

• Keep you in control: Use my initial Walk and Talk to produce an upfront baseline, leaving you under no obligation to proceed further if the scope isn't right.