Garden Design Services

About our garden design service

About our work

You can be confident that, with more than 2 decades of varied practical experience on a broad spectrum of projects, we have the expertise to fulfil your specific needs and budget requirements.

We’ve worked for over 20 years on projects ranging from domestic gardens through to country estates. This means we can give a flexible, bespoke service ranging from consultancy advice through to a full design package with hands-on project management. Over the years I have built strong working relationships with other professionals and having trusted, proven contractors and specialists on hand is a great benefit.

Take a look at our testimonials page to see how we have helped our clients.

Liaising with architects, builders, planners and other professionals

Building projects usually require the involvement of professionals such as architects and project managers, but mistakenly the exterior landscaping is often left as an afterthought.  By involving a garden designer at the start of the process, you can ensure that the garden design and planting are an integral part of any new building work.  Having all the elements working in tandem also has the benefits of less disruption and reduced costs.

Detailed planning applications may need to be lodged and progressed with the relevant authorities. In many instances, design and planting detail is necessary to meet screening, biodiversity and conservation requirement. You may even need planning permission to create extra parking spaces in your front garden.

Managing multiple disciplines and sometimes complex planning applications may seem daunting, but that’s where we can help.

We can also bring in our own preferred experts for your project if appropriate.

Discover more about our design process.

Design Process

The finishing touches for a unique garden

Part of the pleasure of creating your ideal garden is choosing the right finishing touches to harmonise with the overall design. Our experience in sourcing or commissioning products such as furniture, lighting, water features and art objects, and also larger features such as buildings and structures, tennis courts and swimming pools, is always at your disposal as part of our design service.

Areas we cover

We work mainly in Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex, with a particular focus on large country gardens.  If you have a garden project which is further afield we’d be very happy to discuss it with you, so do get in touch!

“We have worked with Janet for many years and as well as being a joy to work with, we have always been delighted by her garden schemes and knowledge of planting. Her service provides a real complement to our designs, creating beautiful environments for our clients.”
John Kirk WilsonFoundations Architects & Designers, Farnham
“Janet doesn’t do hard-sell. On the contrary, she quietly listens to your ideas, wants and needs and then takes them away to turn them into the concept of what your garden could look like with the added ingredients of her plant knowledge, landscaping experience and creative flair.”
Jerry GoddardLovedean, Hampshire
“Janet listened attentively to our requirements and offered advice and guidance where we were uncertain. She has a clear project workflow that was easy understand and detailed exactly what would happen at each stage of the process.
There were a few review meetings through the process which enabled us to provide feedback and over this period, we were able to see our fairly random thoughts and ideas miraculously transformed into a beautiful and coherent design. Throughout, Janet was a real pleasure to work with. We never once felt ignored or pushed down a design path that we were unsure about and she was quick to answer any questions we had.
Janet was also able to recommend a local landscape contractor to implement the design who did an incredible job for us. We now have a beautiful garden that we are able to enjoy and spend much more time in. We would recommend Janet to anyone in need of professional garden design expertise.”
Paul AustinLiss, Hampshire
“Janet has designed us a truly magical garden, that looks great all year round.
She has a wonderful knowledge of plants, and excellent design ideas. From the beginning, and importantly for us, Janet was prepared to incorporate our ideas too, and make the whole thing work. 
we couldn’t recommend her more highly!”
Lucy DavyOakshott, Hampshire
“We have been working with Janet over a two year period, as part of a large scale garden project. Janet is very easy to work with, being both approachable and professional. She has worked on an overall design for various phases of our garden project and detailed planting designs. Janet has taken on board our preferences and offered valuable advice and ideas for both hard and soft landscaping. She supported us to find good landscapers and produced all of the tender paperwork for us. Janet has worked closely with our landscapers, architect and carpenter to ensure a successful project. She has worked to suit timescales around our building work and hard landscaping. We have been very happy with Janet’s work and her role in transforming our garden. We would highly recommend her and we look forward to continuing to work with her on the next phase of work.”
Colette GristRowledge, Surrey
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How the design process works

We want you to feel comfortable, fully informed and in control as your project moves from the first consultancy visit to drawing-board and through to successful execution.

The clear, step-by-step process we have evolved over years of working with different clients makes sure you always know exactly what’s happening, and that you’re fully involved in any ongoing decision-making. You can see a number of our projects from start to finish on our Portfolio pages

First, we’ll meet to discuss what you are looking for, and for me to see your site first-hand. From your design brief and my initial site assessment, I’ll be able to form a clear idea of how your aesthetic and practical needs can best be incorporated in the space. Based on this I will draw up a full estimate of charges for the proposed project, which will be submitted to you in writing.

The first step in the design process is to carry out a detailed site survey to measure the house and garden, and note ground levels, soil type(s), outbuildings, fixed site features and existing planting. On large complex sites, we will engage a professional surveyor for this work.

Armed with all the relevant information, I’ll then draw up an Concept Design Plan.  It is important that we meet at least once during preparation of this Plan, to make sure you are happy with my initial ideas before finalising it.

We can supply 3D visualisations, side elevations and detailed illustrations of any aspect of the design to make sure you clearly understand the proposed design for your garden.

This is a crucial stage in the process: it’s where I can help you specify the important detail of the design – such as paving patterns, the construction of steps or pergolas, or the choice of garden lighting fittings, furniture or even garden buildings and pieces of sculpture. These details can make a huge difference to the overall success of a garden design project.

If you would like assistance to find a reliable, skilled contractor to build your garden, we can help.  By drawing up detailed specifications and tender documents we can ensure that the contractors know exactly what they are quoting for, and that you will be able to make an informed decision about who to employ.  We can help you through the whole landscaping process by visiting your site as regularly as is required to ensure the quality of work and that the design is being followed. Once ground works begin, unavoidable changes to the design may be found necessary.  If that’s the case, we can consult with you to make the required adaptations.

Your garden will not be complete until it’s planted. Right from our first meeting, we will have agreed on a clear idea of what sort of planting you want in your new garden.  I produce detailed planting plans for your approval, and then, using my wholesale and specialist contacts, I can purchase top quality plants for you.  The planting service is completely flexible: I can bring together a team of gardeners to plant your garden, or I am equally happy to work with you on the planting. Some clients may prefer to take on the planting themselves.

Of course, once created and planted, your garden will continue to develop and grow and will need ongoing maintenance which can be planned and dealt with in a number of ways:

I can give written guidance about how to look after your new and existing planting; I can brief you or your gardeners; or I can help you engage a gardener and make visits at agreed intervals to monitor progress and make sure your investment is maintained.

I also offer a consultancy service which could cover any of the stages outlined above, and any aspect of garden and planting design.  Even if you simply want a one-off meeting to discuss your garden and see how it can be improved, that’s something we can do.  Just call or email to get in touch.