Beautiful and functional outdoor spaces to suit your lifestyle.

By developing a close working relationship with her clients Heather is able to design gardens that perfectly meet their requirements. Below is a list of questions which frequently arise in our initial telephone conversations with prospective clients which you may find helpful:

Q. I’ve recently moved house and inherited an overgrown garden, but don’t know where to start. Can you help?

A. Yes! This is a common occurrence which we have pleasure in helping our clients with. Often mature gardens have once been fabulous spaces and may simply need editing with an experienced eye to return them to glory. The hard landscaping may need updating for safety and to modernise the space, but this can still be done sensitively and sustainably if given some thought.

Q. My children no longer need their climbing frame and I’d like to reclaim the football pitch for a more grown up space. Is this something you have experience with?

A. Absolutely! In fact some of our client’s gardens go through several phases as their children grow: from toddlers who we keep safe from open water, to investigative prep-schoolers keen to find places to hide and explore, to teenagers wishing to retreat to a garden hub with their friends, and throughout each of these stages and beyond we love to ensure our clients have space for themselves to relax in and enjoy. Heather’s designs include areas which can be adaptable over time and many of our projects allow for different aspects to be built in phases thus enabling the garden to develop with our client’s families. Just think, the playhouse could give way to a beautiful greenhouse where you could reduce your food miles to just a few feet; mowing the cricket field could become a lower maintenance wildflower meadow, reducing the hours of cutting the lawn and providing more time to enjoy the passing wildlife; or the chalk-board patio could be transformed into an outdoor kitchen and entertaining space beneath a louvred canopy where you can enjoy spending time with your own friends among beautifully planted borders. It sounds so good we might just join you!

Q. I’m about to have building work done, should we wait until it’s finished or think about the garden while the build is still in the planning stages?

A. Building work often results in an existing garden being used by builders to store materials during the build, which ruins grass and often the garden becomes overgrown while building works are carried out. Property development can also create new vistas into the garden, may remove or cover up existing terraces and may result in changes of access to and through the garden. The earlier you are able to discuss the building work with us, the sooner we will be able to assess the impact this will have on your existing garden and will be able to help you to consider the budget you will wish to set aside for repairing or adapting the garden following the building works. That said, more often than not our clients take the opportunity to completely refresh their garden with a redesign of their outside space so that their amazing new extension or new build property can sit in beautifully landscaped gardens which they can enjoy from inside or out. Sometimes garden landscaping will require planning permission to be sought so by creating plans for the garden at an early stage this can be applied for at the same time as other building works, allowing you to save on costs within the planning process.

Q. My property is a listed building and it’s in a conservation area. Do I need planning permission for my garden to be landscaped?

A. It depends. Every project is different and we would prefer to give you individual advice according to your individual circumstances. We have experience in obtaining planning approval, where this has been required, for gardens Heather has designed. Please call us on the number below and we will be happy to discuss your project.

Q. My garden is overlooked and we’d like to increase our privacy. What do you suggest?

A. Privacy is one of the main factors that we consider when we carry out the Site Analysis as part of our design services as it’s something which we are asked about so often. There are lots of options which Heather considers for integrating into her designs to make a garden more private. These range from increasing tree cover at the boundaries to installing overhead features such as pergolas and shade canopies or creating secluded secret spaces in different areas of the garden which can provide a retreat for our clients. Every garden is different and the solutions which are suggested will take into account the other desired elements included in the client’s personal Design Brief.

Q. What is the benefit of commissioning a Topographical Survey before you carry out design work?

A. The Topographical Survey is one of the most important documents required during the design process. Without one we will not be able to create a design plan for the garden. It is an accurate, measured plan of the property which provides the designer and landscape contractor with the exact boundary of the garden and the position of the client’s house within it. Level changes through the garden are recorded alongside the location of all existing hard landscape features and services within the garden. Positions of all trees are also recorded as well as a range of other information which we ask the surveyor to record. The designer then takes all this information into account when deciding on new routes through the garden, considering which features will stay and which are to be amended, as well as providing important information about potential underground features which need to be assessed further and protected during the landscaping works. In addition to the Topographical Survey carried out by a local surveyor, we carry out a Site Analysis by visiting your property to assess the garden and its surroundings and a Desk Study, where we research the underlying geology, check any restrictions that may apply to the garden and look at the history of the site, all of which feed into the rationale alongside sustainability considerations for the concept design for your new garden.

Q. What are all the different plans you create for the garden and why are they needed?

A. We create lots of drawings during the design process which will allow you to visualise your new garden before any physical work is started on the garden. This saves you money by ensuring that you are happy with how your new garden will look and helping you to understand where the bulk of your investment in the garden will be spent. We usually split the design process into several stages. Subject to the detail of your contract, the documents which we can produce include at Stage 1: the Design Brief - this is the client’s wish list that is collated during the Initial Consultation; Concept Plan - this is a plan of the garden showing Heather’s initial design idea or concept for the new garden; Support Document - this contains images to convey the look and feeling Heather is seeking to achieve in your new garden, including initial thoughts on materials, features and selected key plants; and an optional 3D Illustration - this is a presentation which can include either static images or a ‘fly-through’ of the new garden. Some clients find this particularly useful while others opt to have the concept plan and supporting document only. Stage 2 is where Detailed Design Plans are created - here the concept plan, having been approved by the client, is refined and as the client’s choice of materials is made these are incorporated into a Layout Masterplan, which is a simplified version of the Concept Plan used to explain the design to the landscape contractor. Setting-out Plans include the measurements of different areas within the garden which the landscape contractor can use to reproduce the design on the ground. Demolition Plans - these speak for themselves; as do Lighting Plans. Construction Plans show how bespoke features, such as pergolas, should be created and built; while Technical Specification Documents provide the written detail of what materials should be used. Paperwork is also created to comply with the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015 which relates to Health and Safety for all building works, which includes landscaping. Finally at Stage 3 Planting Plans are created, which are effectively maps of each garden border which show the location, type and number of each plant that will be placed in the border, together with a further Supporting Document to help you visualise the style of planting that we have designed. Lastly, although we work with the client’s preferred contractor most of the time, we can also create the documentation required should our clients wish to put the landscaping work out to tender with up to three different landscape contractors.

Q. How much does a design cost?

A. Every garden is different in scale, complexity and individual requirements and therefore design fees are set on a case by case basis to take into account the number of hours of work that we anticipate will be involved in creating designs for your outdoor space. Until we have seen the space ourselves and evaluated how your brief will be met it is difficult to give you a figure, however the total design fees usually work out to be in the region of 10-15% of the cost of building your new garden (see below), with Design Concept Plans starting at £1350 for a small garden. We usually provide a fee proposal for the first design stage only initially, because until the design concept has been created and approved we won’t know how complex the construction will be or how large the planting borders will be - however as each of the Design Concept, Design Detailing and Planting Design stages take roughly equal amounts of time to create you will have an approximate incidation of these fees at an early stage.

Q. So how much should my budget for the landscaping works be?

A. As befits what is often the largest 'room' of a property, for a full garden redesign including secure boundaries, hard and soft landscaping (hardstandings, garden features and plants), it would be realistic to allocate from 7% to 12% of the value of your property to the new landscaping. The range of materials, choice of mature planting and opportunity for special finishing touches available to you will be dictated by the extent of your investment. Heather can provide advice on the possible landscaping costs for your specific project based on the costs of other similar projects which she has worked on when discussing how much you wish to invest in your garden. One of the benefits of using an independent garden designer is that our fees are not based on the level of your investment in the garden but instead simply upon the number of hours work required to create our designs for your garden according to the written design brief. When recommending materials, the sizes of spaces, or suggesting plants or features as part of a design we do not receive any payment for suggesting those items and we can help you to understand where your investment will make the biggest impact on your garden. We can also create ‘wish list’ design masterplans that you can implement in stages over a number of years as time and money allow. We are also very happy to suggest design solutions that are lighter on the environment, through planting solutions and reusing and recycling materials where possible. Heather can adapt her processes to your individual circumstances and provide creative solutions to your landscaping problems.

If you would like further information, have any other questions, or would like to organise a consultation or to discuss how Heather Martin may help you with your individual situation, please call 01444 702207 or email: studio@heathermartin.co.uk