Ethos
Locality
Less = More
A garden should never feel separate from its surroundings. The setting informs plant choices and hardscape materials, ensuring the design integrates seamlessly with the wider landscape.
Good design doesn’t have to be complicated. Simplicity often results in the most elegant, timeless gardens.
Sustainability + Longevity
Craft
Habitat
Seasonality
Site Suitability
Collaboration
The success of a garden depends on how well it suits its environment.
Beth Chatto’s principle "Right plant, right place" is a guiding rule in our practice, ensuring plants thrive naturally without excessive intervention.
Between us, our clients and the craftsmen who build our gardens. By challenging and testing ideas together, we create better gardens.
We actively seek opportunities to collaborate with skilled local craftsmen. From hedge-laying and willow weaving to stone masonry, these traditional techniques bring authenticity and depth to modern gardens, ensuring these crafts endure.
Gardens should live on beyond the current owner. We consider soil health, material durability, tree maturity, accessibility, and long-term maintenance to create lasting landscapes.
Each season brings new beauty. We embrace the changing landscape, rejecting the idea that gardens are "put to bed" in winter. There’s joy to be found in every season.
Gardens aren’t just for us, they’re shared spaces with wildlife. We have a responsibility to support biodiversity, providing habitats alongside our own needs.
Process
1. Site Analysis
Following an initial site visit, we begin with drafting an in-depth client brief to establish your requirements and outline an initial design strategy. Site investigations are then carried out to assess key factors that will inform the design.
Once agreed, your brief becomes an important reference point throughout the design process, ensuring clarity and alignment between client and designer.
A topographical site survey is typically required at this stage, which we will arrange on your behalf.
2. Concept
Working to scale, we explore ideas through freehand sketching to keep the process fluid and creative. This allows concepts to evolve naturally and ensures time is used efficiently to align with your vision. Sometimes a single strong idea emerges, while in other cases multiple options are developed.
Once a clear direction is established, proposals are tested in 3D, either through digital models or hand sketches, to confirm feasibility and communicate the design intent.
We also suggest an initial palette of plants and materials to help you visualise the finished garden. Following your feedback, an initial design concept is agreed for further exploration and detailing.
3. Plan
At this stage, we translate the concept sketches into a detailed digital layout. This includes levels and falls, spot heights, key features, surfaces, materials, and clear annotations.
If required by the client or for planning applications, we can also produce visuals of the garden.
Mood boards are used to further communicate the proposals, helping you fully understand the direction of the design and the look and feel of the finished garden.
4. Detailed Design
Once the plan is signed off and before obtaining landscaping quotes, we compile a detailed design package.
This includes all the technical information required to construct the garden, including demolition plans, layout drawings, construction details, bespoke features, site sections, and elevations. We also provide a scope of works and a bill of quantities.
Planting plans are developed at this stage, supported by plant mood boards to help you visualise the overall scheme and understand how the garden will look when complete.
A final design package is now completed to be handed over to the chosen contractor, to carry out the build to our exact specifications.
5. Planning and Sourcing
Stage five focuses on planning the delivery of the garden, including sourcing the perfect plants and trees for the project, and selecting the right landscaping team for you.
We invite trusted landscape contractors to tender for your project. We do not take a commission and always aim to secure the best value without compromising on quality.
Once the landscape contractor is confirmed, we plan the build start date and remain on hand to answer any questions you may have throughout the process.
6. Build
During the build stage we arrange site visits to review progress, and remain available to respond to any queries from the landscapers.
We maintain close communication with both clients and the build team throughout the process to ensure the work is completed as specified and within the agreed timescale and budget.
If required, we can produce additional drawings to support the construction. We also coordinate deliveries to ensure materials arrive on site when needed.
7. Maintenance and Development
7. Maintenance and
Development
There is no such thing as a garden without maintenance. We provide tailored maintenance plans, offering step-by-step guidance on how to care for each plant, along with seasonal recommendations.
You’ll know what to do and when to do it, and depending on your location we can match you with a trusted and proven gardner to assist if required.