Process

Each project begins with listening: to the site, the client, and the landscape context. Conversation allows us to draw out the stories and themes that make a garden special. Observing the feel of the surrounding landscape ensures the garden is rooted in its place.

There follows a period of research, understanding the site and its wider context. In addition to a traditional survey, I look more broadly at the culture surrounding the project; the history of the area; the local native wildlife; the art and design tastes of the client. All of this feeds the creative design process.

With research on hand, I weave the narrative of the design together. Drawing on practical requirements, and thematic ideas, I produced a concept design. This tells the story of the project, and gives a sense of how it will look: the layout, the style, the feeling.

The design is then ready to be brought to life, realised first through detail master plan and construction documentation, and then in the hands of a skilled landscaper. At a clients request, I monitor this process and offer advice.

No garden is complete without planting, which connects us to the seasons, provides habitats for wildlife, and improves mood, well-being, and reduces physiological stress. Using knowledge of the site conditions, and the wider ecological landscape, I design naturalistic planting which works with, rather than against, the natural conditions.

Gardens evolve over time, and develop in ways we could never imagine or control. For this reason our conversations continue beyond the handover of the ‘finished’ project.