Our creative and environmental approach
We strive to create gardens that stand the test of time. We do this by designing places which are rooted in their locale, which strike a timeless relationship with the buildings they surround using good quality materials with a long design life. Our gardens have a strong sense of belonging and as such we see them as installations which will be cherished and nurtured for years to come. Every garden should enrich the soul and heighten our wellbeing through the experience of nature, through enjoying the quality of light as the sun passes through the sky and through contact with good quality materials and tangible craftsmanship and this drives our design process on every project.
We specialise in creating places which are at once well organised and relaxed. How our clients and their families live their daily lives is important to us and we make sure our gardens function with ease and grace allowing for the day-to-day functioning of family life to run smoothly in a relaxed and enduring setting. This applies particularly strongly when we create gardens for the public to enjoy and our clear understanding of how our work contributes to an enjoyable day out and the successful running of a venue is rooted in our belief that public gardens should be a blend of a deeply memorable and rich experience as well as a sustainable contributor to the success of that venue.
Planting design is vital in all our projects and we pride ourselves in creating places, be they public or private, that through their planting have a tangible atmosphere and uplifting impact on the people who use and enjoy them. Our planting is characterised by a relaxed aesthetic overlaid on a clear and carefully planned structural layer of trees, hedges shrubs and topiary. When combined with a simple and striking palette of good quality materials our planting gives rise to a traditional look overlaid with subtle contemporary touches.
Sustainability and biodiversity are woven into our work as a given. We strive to use hard materials that have embodied carbon and a long design life with a preference for reclaimed stone from the locale. Doing so enables us to tap into the wealth of regional crafts and skills that surround our projects and we have built up a wonderful network of artisans and suppliers to support us in this. Through our use of materials and native species we always strive to tread lightly, leaving our projects a more biodiverse places than we find them.
Our design process
We always take a collaborative approach to our work, forging close relationships with our clients and other members of the consultant team to establish common goals and values. It’s important to us that the gardens we create are the result of an open and communicative process and a joint vision, lending the finished product a sense of collective achievement and therefore cherished value.
Our full design process, with examples of work at each stage, is set out in our company brochure which you can download here. Our process is adapted to suit each project, and beings with a thorough understanding of the place we are briefed to change. We see out sites as receiving environments, which we get to know as living breathing places with a spirit, however tangible, that is our task to capture and illuminate through our work.
As we embark on our creative journey with our clients we use a wide range of drawings, images and models to convey our thoughts, listening and taking on board feedback at every stage. Once our designs are cast and we have discussed budgets we take our clients through the process of embellishing the details and preparing the project for tender, construction and planting. We manage our projects closely and have a range of finely honed systems in place to manage budgets, programmes and contractors with efficiency and openness.
We supply plants into all our projects and have a team of trained professional horticulturists to implement our planting schemes to make sure the icing on the cake is applied with skill and care. We also offer a suite of garden management packages giving our clients the peace of mind that the garden we have made for them is tended and nurtured for years to come.