What you provide us

Contents - scroll down page manually or click on these links:

1. Your wishlist.

2. What's your garden like now?

3. Checklist - details I need.

4. What's your soil like?

1. Your wishlist

So I can design exactly what you want and will like, the more information you can give me, the better.

• What do you definitely want in your garden?
• What don't you want?

Giving the answers to the following questions will help you to think about what you want, and help me plan.

Let me know:

• What is your garden for? Ornamental, for entertaining, for barbecues, for growing food (fruit, veg, herbs), for cut flowers, for wildlife, for fish, for you to potter, for sunbathing, for drying the washing?, anything else?
• Who uses your garden? What age groups? Any special requirements (suitable for wheelchairs etc). Any pets (what sort?).
• Lawn - do you want one or not? Large or small? Do you have time to mow? Do you want a perfectly manicured area or a patch of green?
• Hard surfaces - paths (how wide?), patio (large or small, in sun or shade?)
• Hedges versus fences - do you have time to prune a hedge? Is the soil good enough to grow a hedge?
• Maintenance - are you an enthusiastic gardener who wants to spend a lot of time gardening or do you want a low maintenance garden that looks after itself for most of the time?
• Greenhouse and shed - do you want these or any other essential outbuildings?
• Anything else

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2. What's your garden like now?

I need a rough plan of your garden. It doesn't need to be on graph paper or even have ruler-straight lines - a sketch is fine, but make sure it shows the position of your house, external doors and overlooking windows, as in the example below:

Rough plan additions and alternatives

I prefer a rough plan, but in addition or instead you could photograph/video all parts of your garden and send me the prints/DVD (which I will return). I will still need the overall measurements and the other details listed in the checklist below.

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3. Checklist - details I need

3.1 Garden measurements

• Show information in metres or feet, but not a mixture. Please state which is used on your plan.
• The measurements need not be exact to the last half inch (we are not building a rocket).
• If you don't have a long enough tape measure, then pace out the garden and measure your pace. Or measure the length of one of your fence panels and use that to estimate boundary dimensions.

3.2 Garden features

• Show all the fixed garden features (garage, shed, drain covers, tree trunks) and their size. Also measure the distance between them and boundaries or other objects on the plan.
• Estimate the height of any trees and show the spread of the branches over your garden.
• Please include the names of the trees if you can, or a description of the leaf shape and any other distinguishing features, including whether it is evergreen or not (send me the leaves if you can).

3.3 Sun and shade

• Show which way is north, or which part of the house and garden gets the midday sun, whichever is easiest for you.
• Please tell me about any areas of the garden that remain in shade all day in winter or in summer or both.

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3.4 Neigbouring gardens

• Add to your plan the things in neighbouring gardens that may affect your garden, such as buildings (sheds, garages, walls), fences and hedges (and what type), trees with roots or branches in your garden.
• Show how much branches overhang your garden.
• Show what shade they cast in your garden and at what times of day.

3.5 Extra information

• Altitude. Do you know how high your garden is above sea level?
• Frosts. When do you normally experience the first and last frosts? (I know this is difficult to say with climate change, but a rough idea is useful for plant recommendations)
• Wind. Is your garden in a very windy area? Which direction does the wind usually blow?
• Air pollution. Is the air salty from sea spray or affected by nearby main roads or industry?

4. What is your soil like?

The plants I choose will grow in a wide range of soils. However, the following information would be useful if you can provide it.

• Is your soil wet all year, dry all year, whatever the weather?
• Is it stony, chalky, alkaline, acidic, peaty?
• If you know the name of your soil type and its pH, then please let me know.
• If there are particular plants that do really well in the soils in your area, let me know.
• If there are plants that do really badly in the soils in your area, let me know.

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