Design Ethos

Environmental design

When designing gardens, it can be complex to ensure the design is as friendly to the environment as possible. I love a nature friendly garden for example, but if creating it involves ripping out everything that is there and starting from scratch, then it could do more harm than good. Not only because much of the waste would likely go to landfill, but also any existing habitats would be disturbed. Even soils contain microorganisms and ecosystems. For these reasons, I always consider the possibilities of what is there already, possibly reusing materials or pruning and reshaping overgrown trees or shrubs. My understanding of how to design for the environment is forever evolving, and will involve different solutions for each garden I approach.

Plants

‘Right plant right place’ is always the way to go. I don’t see the point in trying to force a plant to live in an environment it isn’t suited to. This just makes for either an unhappy plant or a very high maintenance plant. From this perspective, I like to use tried and tested plants, rather than brand new cultivars or very rare plants. This does not mean than the plants I use are uninteresting or very common – there are literally thousands and thousands of plants out there! I just want the plants to be happy, live their best life, and above all look amazing! Hard working plants with year round interest are always winners too.

Style & theme

The style and theme of a garden should always be sympathetic to the setting. I will always work with my clients tastes, but ultimately for a garden to look good, it should sit comfortably in its surroundings. What looks right for a 17th century rural cottage may not look right for an urban new build. I take into account any surrounding features, such as the local architecture and the ‘borrowed landscape’ – what can be seen beyond the garden. Please don’t think this means you can’t have, for example, cottage style planting in your new build garden – you absolutely can!

Materials

There is always a lot to consider with hard landscaping materials. Aside from aesthetics, how hard wearing they are, how much maintenance they require and their environmental impact. It can be tricky to work out what materials have the lowest environmental impact – I love the idea of reclaimed materials for example, but sometimes the act of reclamation has a higher carbon footprint than sourcing new. And sometimes it may be better to go for a material which has a higher initial carbon footprint if it will last longer or if its maintenance is less onerous or harmful. And concrete is generally pretty bad so I try to avoid this as far as possible!

Creatures

Ultimately I aim to design something which my clients will enjoy and find suits their needs. On top of that, I do think its important to look after all the other creatures we share it with. With this in mind, I try to incorporate different habitats into my designs to create ecosystems. It is great that there is lots of interest now in ‘plants for pollinators’, which takes care of where they eat, but we also need to consider things like where these creatures reproduce and live over winter time. Incorporating even a small wildlife pond is so beneficial to so many species – from newts, frogs and toads who breed in it, to garden birds who stop in for a drink.

Maintenance

I encourage lots of the ‘traditional’ maintenance of gardens to be skipped, making for a lower maintenance garden! For example, don’t clear your fallen leaves from planted areas or cut back your perennials in autumn. But do brush leaves from patios and decks to reduce the desire for jet washing. The way that we maintain our gardens can have a big impact on the local ecosystems and I always garden organically – no pesticides or other chemicals. Creating a garden attractive to lots of different creatures can be so beneficial to pest control – see this article by the RSPB.