Rebecca Wallman | Bespoke Garden Design in Suffolk

Garden Design

A well-considered design will transform your garden, ensuring the best use of space for your needs and taste.

As much as we love beautiful plants and stunning materials, these need to work alongside the less exciting requirements such as drainage and level changes. We consider every element of your space to ensure a completed garden that you can enjoy for years to come.

A full garden renovation is an investment, and materials and labour costs have risen considerably over the last year. A realistic starting budget is around £25,000 for a small garden, but this will increase with elements such as water features and lighting. Design fees are tailored to each project and dependent on the work required but are generally between 10-15% of the build cost.

Please see further details of the design process below, and get in touch to discuss your requirements.

Consultation

The initial meeting is to establish your needs and desires for your garden and the possibilities the space offers. We will discuss how you envisage using it and any design or planting ideas you favour. We will look at your garden to assess its potential and limitations.

It is important at this stage to realistically consider the budget. While it can sometimes be hard to decide how much you wish to spend, an approximate figure enables us to realise what is achievable and move forward to the design brief. We will fully explain the whole design process at this meeting. Following our discussion you will be presented with a report, which includes the design brief and a quotation for our design fees.

There is a charge for this meeting to cover our time (dependent on location), but this will be refundable if you decide to engage us for the design work.

Site Survey & Analysis

If you decide to proceed a site survey is essential to produce a scaled plan of your garden and to assess any potential issues regarding changes of level, soil structure, access, and so on. Unless the site is very small we recommend this job being undertaken by a professional surveyor. A relatively small investment at this stage really can avoid costly errors further down the line. Soil testing is also essential, and any particularly damp or dry areas recorded, to ensure suitable plant selection. We will take numerous photographs and consider any views that need to be enhanced or concealed, taking into account anything you wish to retain or dispose of.

Concept Plan

Using the information gathered from the site survey and your design brief we will create a preliminary design for the site. This will help you to visualise your potential garden and will include suggestions for hard landscaping, planting, and any other features needed. We will arrange a meeting to discuss this plan with you where we can review any possible changes and the cost implications. Once you are happy with this stage work will begin on the Presentation Plan.

Presentation Plan

This is a scaled drawing of the proposal for your garden accurately detailing areas of hard and soft landscaping, changes of level, and any garden structures or other features.

Planting Design

We will create an original planting scheme taking into account the particular growing conditions in your garden, your preferences, and how much maintenance is required. In addition we will produce a plant maintenance schedule, which will be a detailed list of all new plants in the garden and a calendar of maintenance tasks to be carried out.

Technical Drawings & Documentation

Technical drawings are required to enable contractors to replicate the design on the site. These may include specific construction details for hard landscaping and any garden structures, as well as setting out plans to ensure that everything is placed and built exactly as planned. These are backed up with detailed specifications and healthy and safety regulations to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible.

Landscaper Liaison

You may have a reliable contractor whom you would like to use for the build phase or you may need us to recommend a suitable landscaper. This will involve meeting together on site followed by documentation detailing the precise work to be done, methods, and materials used. Please note that any contract is between you and the landscaper and we do not employ him/her on your behalf.

Plant Supply & Planting

It is all too easy to waste hundreds of pounds by selecting low quality plants. We will use our horticultural knowledge to select quality plants from professional nurseries. Once the plants arrive it is important that they are planted correctly and with care, and set out according to the planting plan. We prefer to undertake this part of the project for you.

Get in Touch

Planting Design >