Planning & Design...
Below are our articles on the subject of Planning & Design. If you can't see what you are looking for our other categories are displayed on the left under 'Our Quick Links'...
A Tropical Garden Landscape
Many gardeners are astounded at the appearance of tropical landscapes and plants in the most unlikely places. It's perhaps understandable in the very southernmost...
Assessing Your Existing Garden
Whether you have just inherited a garden from a previous owner or are contemplating reworking your own handiwork of several years, it can often be difficult to imagine...
Blocking Unsightly Views
An unsightly view can blight even the most otherwise attractive of gardens and with ugliness – like beauty – being largely in the eye of the beholder, it doesn’t...
Choosing a Landscape Gardener
You could be in the market for the services of a landscape gardener if you decide to completely redesign your garden. A landscape gardener may also be useful simply...
Designing a Garden to Boost Your Home's Security
Although we would all really rather not think about it, the fact remains that home security is for most of us, sadly, a very real concern – and...
Designing a People-Orientated Garden
Although in one sense, all gardens are people-orientated, some designs quite deliberately set out to go beyond simply reflecting the gardening efforts of their...
Designing a Vegetable Patch
Designing a vegetable patch can be as simple as throwing some seeds in a corner of the garden. With sun and water something will almost certainly grow, but you hare...
Designing the Informal Garden
The best sorts of informal gardens are those which look almost as if nature herself has had a hand in their construction, lending a softness and gentleness to a...
Give Your Garden the Exotic Look
In the cool and frost-prone climate of Britain, to grow many of the lush, tropical and sub-tropical plants there’s no way round the fact that you are going to need a...
Landscaping for Driveways
Landscaping around a driveway is important to keep kerb appeal high, particularly if you are about to sell a property. Assuming that you aren't the owner of a...
Making the Most of a Small Plot
Many modern houses stand in a relatively small plot, which can pose a few challenges when it comes to producing a garden design to make the most of the available...
Miniature Rivers and Canals for the Garden
We've covered water features and ponds in the garden in another article, including fountains and waterfalls. Here we're going to expand the topic...
Planning a Drought-Resistant Garden
It is one of the most bizarre ironies of the British climate that despite what seems like torrential rain and flooding for half the year, the spectre of hose-pipe...
Planning a Formal Garden
Formal gardens are the triumph of human order superimposed on nature, the underlying message being one of control and restraint, with the shape and form of the...
Planning A Play Area in Your Garden
Having a play area in the garden is an absolute must if you’ve got small children – there’s no better way for youngsters to get out into the fresh air than providing...
Planning a Stylised Garden
Although traditional gardening falls largely into the well-know divisions of “formal” and “informal”, the stylised garden is a type of landscape design which has...
Planning A Town Garden
Although designing the perfect town garden can be challenging, with a little care and imagination, even the smallest and apparently least promising bit of urban...
Planning A Wildflower Garden
Wildflowers occupy a particular place in landscape design and for most of us there seems to be something rather appealing about a profusion of native plants growing...
Planning Frost and Wind Protection
How much frost and wind protection you need to plan for in your garden greatly depends on its climate and aspects and, of course, the sorts of plants you grow. The...
Should You Hire a Garden Designer?
Many people think that the idea of hiring a garden designer is pie in the sky, something for those who have more money than sense. But that's not always the case and...
The Importance of Good Garden Design
Although some beautiful gardens have been created without any initial overall plan, evolving over the years as different elements were introduced and changes made,...
Using Garden Design Software
Garden design software used to be the province of professional gardeners and landscapers but such is the ferocious march of technology that excellent packages are...
Will I Need Planning Permission for Landscaping Plans?
When most of us thing about landscaping a garden we're thinking of a bit of planting here, perhaps a deck or a terrace there. The thought of...
