When Is A Good Time To Think About A Garden Design?

We often have clients asking when is a good time to think about a garden design. And while the answer to that is pretty much anytime there are some perfect times of the year to get the ball rolling…

Our garden designs are drawn up in CAD then hand coloured

Many clients apologise for contacting us in the heart of Winter and think it is silly to be discussing gardens when the weather is often so bad outside. But Winter and Spring can be the perfect time to start the ball rolling with your garden design

How long will a design take?

The design process can take up to a few months to complete depending on the complexity of the garden. At our initial consultation we will discuss ALL your requirements (many of which you will not have considered) so that we know exactly how you want to use the garden, who will use it and some of the features and plants you like (or sometimes more importantly, those you don’t like!)

Our designs create journeys and interest around the garden

What is the design process?

We will then take time to come up with a few concepts and then meet up to discuss these with you. This interim meeting will discuss costs, materials and various aspects of the design. From there we will do our final drawings, moodboard and our collate the build costs. Doing a design takes time to ensure we get the garden which is right for that particular client and also for that specific garden and its setting. We need to consider topography, soil type, existing features and planting, surrounding landscapes, access and much more before finalising our designs. All of our designs are drawn up on CAD to ensure accuracy and then hand coloured for a more natural finish.

A moodboard shows the inspiration for the design, materials, features and planting proposed

Allow time for our landscaping team

The client also needs to factor in that all good landscapers should already have several projects on their books which means they won’t be able to start your garden straight away. At Vialii our outdoor team are usually pre-booked for 2-3 months on build projects so by contacting us in autumn/winter you are much more likely to have your garden designed and built by spring the following year so you can enjoy it in the good weather. Although we can’t guarantee the good weather!

One of the many gardens which we have successfully designed and lovingly built over the years.

That said we design and build gardens all year round. And we mean all year! Unless the weather is incredibly bad we will be out there all through the year transforming gardens.

So really, no time is too early a time to think about a garden design. If you are considering a new look to part or all of your garden for this year, get in touch and we will be round to take those first steps with you.

All at Vialii

It’s Only A Phase!

Clients commonly ask us if it is OK if they can phase their garden build. We ensure there is complete flexibility with all our designs and how they are built. If it’s something you are considering read our blog about the benefits and downsides to this approach.

A garden in Perth which was built over two phases

Sometimes it’s not possible to build your newly designed dream garden at the one time. Maybe budget doesn’t allow it or perhaps other building work going on in the house might impact on the garden. By building the design in phases, though, it is still possible to eventually get the dream garden over a longer timescale.

Planning Process

The most important thing is to be organised and draw up a masterplan of everything the final garden will contain. This masterplan will ensure that the phases marry together neatly and produce a cohesive overall feel once all stages are complete. The master design also becomes roadmap for every cable and pipe to be laid above or below ground and the identity and position of every tree and plant. For example if you’re laying a patio in an early phase it will be important to know if you’re installing a lighting feature at a later stage so that electrics can be properly located and the patio doesn’t need to be lifted temporarily.
It is useful to also have a mood board of the different soft and hard landscaping to be used in each phase to give a greater appreciation of how those will work together too.

A mood board shows all the areas of the garden which will come together

Building Process

In order to get as much instant gratification as possible the larger surfacing work should be done in phase one. This includes laying patios and lawns further away from access points. Not only will you be able to enjoy these spaces but getting the soil covered will help keep your house clean! Another priority should be getting shelter from wind or sun and some privacy/security. This could be boundaries such as fences and walls or trees. If you’re including any “grow your own” areas you might wish this to be done earlier in the build too so you can start to re-coup money savings on shop bought produce.

A design for a phased garden in Stirling

If you’re redesigning front and back gardens it can be tempting to start with the front garden to get best kerbside effect. But all the hard work can easily be damaged if there are subsequent access issues getting materials into the rear garden and waste out. It’s best not to “paint yourself into a corner”!

The last thing you do is seed the lawn or lay turf. Newly planted lawns need time to germinate or root and that’s hard to do if they’re being trampled all over by gardeners lugging other plants around! It’s also best to plant up the ornamental flowers and trees in the latter phases as they’ll need maintenance and pruning so you may as well put that off until the end.

Phase 2: This back garden was phased to tie in with the new house extension

Benefits

Downsides

• You will miss out on the immediate wow factor of having your whole garden transformed at the same.

• The overall cost is likely to be a bit greater. A project broken into phases normally costs more than a whole project built at once. This is because elements of the overall garden build normally overlap so you can save on manual labour costs as the team can be getting on with another aspects they wait for patios to set or paint to dry etc.

• Some areas of the garden may need to be re-done if there is a lot of traffic going over them during Phase 2 (however, we would normally recommend a certain way of work being done to minimise this and we always protect existing work which is to be kept.)

It’s important to think how the phasing will work so no damage is done to areas already completed

Before Your Design