Stephen Charles Landscape and Contract Gardeners offer the complete Concept to Completion gardening service. We will help you with every stage of your project from the initial ideas through putting together a design, drawing up a plan to making the design a realty to maintaining the finished project
Design
There are fundamentally two elements to good garden design they are both equally important for a successful design.
The first is the logistical element for example what root a path should take should the patio be in the morning sun or afternoon sun
Or shade, how to include a children’s play area or a water feature.
The Second element is the less tangible but equally important “feel” or “style” of the garden; this is generally a result of the site, the house and its surroundings. Historically this was dictated by necessity since transporting heavy bulky materials over long distances was impossible gardens could only be constructed form local materials and therefore they automatically fitted into there surroundings. Today care should be taken during the design process to ensure that the shape of the landscape above ground level as well a the underlining rock, sub soil and top soil are all considered carefully as they are all the result of geological formations and the action of weather.
The Design Process
1/ INITIAL SITE VISIT & CONSULTATION To
help prepare your design brief. The following table indicates the
information required by us to formulate your design brief In additon if
you could give some thought to the ' style' of garden you require
|
THE DESIGN BREIF |
|
|
|
Practical requirements |
Uses of The Garden |
Planned Structures |
|
Parking requirements and garage access |
Terrace/ Patio
For how many people |
What type of boundaries are required, Wall, Hedge, Fence etc |
|
How much Storage |
What type of material |
Is a Gazebo needed |
|
What access is required to the house and services |
Is a barbecue needed/ built in seating required |
Is a Greenhouse needed |
|
Are there particular views which need to be accommodated |
Is a Shaded seating area from terrace or lawn needed |
How about a water feature |
|
What screening is required |
Is a Children’s play area required |
Plants |
|
Are Wind brakes needed |
Is Night time outdoor lighting a requirement for: |
Which existing pants are to be kept |
|
Compost area |
For seating areas |
What type of ground cover is preferred |
|
Lighting |
For house access routes |
Likes and dislikes |
|
Irrigation |
To illuminate garden from inside the house |
Flower colour preferences |
|
Provision for Pets |
|
Special Interests |
|
|
|
Should provision be made for birds wildlife etc. |
2/ SITE ANALISIS
This is how your site fits into its setting as part of the broader framework and how the features within the site relate to each other:
The view out weather this is rolling country side or an urban setting
Orientation The direction of the sun and how much sun or shades will your site receive
Topographical conditions these will directly affect the micro climate of your site
Prevailing winds
Boundaries are they too open or too closed?
Drainage and irrigation
Levels
Services
Soil type condition and texture This is very important and not only includes the ph of the soil but also the content of organic matter and the soil texture, that is weather it is sandy (with large particles) or Clay (small particles) both of which are improved by adding quantities of organic matter
3/ SITE SURVEY The next step is to make an accurate site survey with all the information required to make an accurate scale plan this will include all the existing features of the garden.
4/ THE SCALE PLAN From the measurements obtained in the site survey the scale plan is drawn this is the basic plan form which the new design is formulated
5/THE NEW DESIGN OUTLINE PLAN INC PROJECTIONS, SECTIONS AND VISULISATONS. Using the scale plan and the design brief above the new design will be created. We use the latest computer aided design software which is fully compatible with ‘AutoCAD’.
6/ THE STRUCTURAL PLAN a more detailed plan of the individual structures within your new garden it is useful as and aid to construction and for estimates of quantities of materials there cost and labour cost. It also allows us to estimate a time line for the project
7/ THE PLANTING PLAN Like the structural plan it is a more detailed shows the numbers varieties and sizes of plants. The plants fall into the following groups
Specials
Skeletons
Decorative
Pretties
Infill
The planting plan it is useful as an aid to construction and for estimating
8/ FULL DETILED PECFICATIONS COSTINGS AND QUANTITYIES We will the provide you with the required specifications and a breakdown of materials and labour costs for completion of your project
9/ SITE CLEARANCE & PREPARATION Our team will arrive on site and commence the works saving existing features which are still required whilst clearing the site installing drainage and other services as per the plan.
10/ THE PAPER DESIGN IS TRANSFREEDE TO THE GROUND Our team will continue on site until your new garden is completed to specification within budget and on time.
As we use the latest computer aided design programs which are compatible with ‘AutoCAD’ if you already have plans (possibly from an architect) of you garden we can use these as a basic scale drawing saving time and money. Essentially the main advantage of cad systems over the old fashioned drawing board is it is very much quicker when any changes or redrawing is required.
