Our process
Every project has its own pace, but the important decisions happen in a sensible order so that construction never has to guess what the design meant.
An initial conversation is followed by a site visit. We look at levels, access, soil, drainage, light, existing planting, neighbouring views and the relationship between house and garden.
We also want the ordinary stuff: where you eat, where children play, what you see from the kitchen, whether you garden enthusiastically or would rather not spend every weekend maintaining borders.
We explore the shape of the garden: routes, terraces, lawns, boundaries, structures and key planting areas. This is the stage to test ideas before details become expensive.
On sloping Bath sites, this is also where level changes and retaining elements are made useful rather than treated as engineering to disguise later.
Once the direction is agreed, we develop levels, surfaces, construction details and planting so the scheme can be costed and built accurately.
A deliberately limited palette helps the garden feel coherent. We specify enough detail that paving, walling, edging, steps, structures and planting all feel part of the same idea.
For full design-and-build projects we coordinate the landscaping, answer detail questions and keep the work aligned with the original plan as the garden takes shape.
Real sites always reveal something drawings cannot. The point is not to refuse change — it is to make sensible decisions without losing the logic of the design.
Planting is set out in the actual space before final positions are fixed, because relationships between plants matter as much as the schedule on paper.
We provide establishment advice and can return to review planting, make seasonal adjustments and help the garden settle into its next chapter.
First step