Garden Designs & Makeovers

What is a Garden Layout Plan?

A garden layout plan is a clear, visual representation of your dream garden that also suggests creative touches to make your garden unique to you.

Drawn to scale, a garden layout plan shows you where each garden feature will be placed and how they will interact with each other. Garden layout plans are created by garden designers and used by landscapers to quote, plan, and project manage your garden makeover in the same way as a builder would use an architect’s plan to construct your home.

Why do we need Garden Layout Plans?

Clarifies your ideas

The garden layout plan amalgamates all of your outdoor décor ideas into a workable document and enables your landscaper to quote for the work to be done.

When you have a garden layout plan you can be sure that your landscaper is quoting for and building the exact garden that you have pictured in your head.

Ensures your new garden meets your every need, now and always

Your landscaper will help you to create a comprehensive wish list for your garden (we call it the “client brief”) using a questionnaire from the garden designer. The client brief covers everything from the colour of stone you prefer to whether or not you’d like a washing line in your garden. It’s all too easy to dream of a beautiful outdoor kitchen with porcelain patio and exquisite planting – but what where will you hide the wheelie bins?

The client brief is passed to the garden designer along with the results of the site survey. It will be very carefully studied to ensure that, as well as looking beautiful, your new garden will meet your every need.

Garden designers also consider the view from the house and from various points in the garden. When creating your garden layout plan, the designer will also bear in mind your privacy, your security, views from within the garden, and the needs of every family member.

Probably one of the most important aspects of garden design is futureproofing your outdoor spaces. We all of us adapt our lifestyles as we age – good garden design ensures that your garden will also adapt to your changing needs.

Keeps your build budget in mind

The garden layout plan needs to consider your total budget for the build. We work with garden designers who we know won’t get carried away and suggest wonderful features that are simply unaffordable.

At this stage of the garden makeover, you may not have a fixed budget in mind, but don’t worry. Just start the process by giving us a price range to work within. Once we have agreed a layout plan, we can let you know what the build costs will be. From there we can discuss changing materials, tweaking the design or staggering the build, to keep within budget.

Perfect pricing

Your landscaper will use your final garden layout plan to quote for your garden makeover based on the materials and the quantities specified on the plan. Provided there are no major changes to the plan, or hitches during the project, you won’t be hit with any extra costs.

Enables seamless project management

For a truly professional finish, a garden layout plan is an essential part of a garden makeover. A clear garden layout plan takes away all of those communication blips and allows your landscaper to project manage the build seamlessly and effectively.

A garden layout plan is so much more than a pretty picture. When a landscaper is pricing the project, ordering materials and actually doing the work, the garden layout plan is key to getting things right.

The garden layout plan doesn’t just look at the aesthetics of the finished garden, it considers structural considerations, such as drainage, managing levels and slopes, protecting your property from damp and ensuring that the space will be fit for purpose for decades.

We work with garden designers who are skilled outdoor architects and who have a sound knowledge of construction techniques. For example, whilst you visualise a neatly terraced garden with elegant planting and wide, safe steps – the person who is creating your garden layout plan will be thinking about the construction details for the retaining walls that will prevent a landslide in your garden.

How do we create garden layout plans?

Each and every garden layout plan is different. It’s totally bespoke, both to the garden and the clients and can never be recycled to fit another garden.

Creating a garden layout plan starts with the client brief. Normally that involves an informal chat with the landscaper who will be looking after your garden makeover. We feel it’s important that you get to know your landscaper as early as possible so that he or she truly understands what you need from your garden.

With the client brief completed, we carry out a comprehensive site survey so that we can learn more about the dimensions and the character of the site.

All of that information is handed over to our trusted trusted garden designer who will create the garden layout plan.

What does the garden design fee cover?

Initial consultation

For the initial consultation we’ll chat with you to discover how you want to use your garden, what features you would like and how you’d like it styled. We discuss things like storage, accessibility, lighting, maintenance levels and of course colour schemes.

This relaxed discussion normally takes an hour and gives you the opportunity to brainstorm different ideas and suggestions.

As we chat we’ll complete a questionnaire. This can be left with you for a few days so that you can have a good think and make any changes you want to.

Site survey

A garden layout plan relies on taking accurate measurements for all dimensions in the garden. Designers also need to consider soil type, drainage, and opportunities and challenges from the wider environment. The site survey also looks at crucial features such as where you enter/exit the garden, which way doors and gates open, and the view from each of your windows.

From the landscaper’s point of view – knowing about site access for machinery and materials is an important part of the quoting process. As you can imagine, it takes far longer to move materials by hand than it does to forklift them into the garden.

We are able to carry out a simple site survey where there are no drainage difficulties, complicated changes in levels, however, for best results it’s advisable to organise a professional site survey.

Changes to the design

By asking lots of questions before we start the design, and really getting to understand what you need from your garden, we rarely need to make changes to our finished designs. However, our price does allow for one round of minor tweaks.

Presenting the design

The design is presented as a scaled, 2D layout plan showing you where features will be placed in relation to each other. You can opt to upgrade this to a 3D plan so that you can visualise your new garden.

Most of our clients want to choose and arrange plants for themselves, however, if you need some suggestions, a detailed planting plan can be compiled separately.

A 3D garden layout plan makes it easier to imagine how your new garden will look.

How long does it take to design a garden?

As you can imagine, a lot of work goes into designing a garden and making sure that every detail is just right for you. Once all of the information has been gathered, it normally takes us 3-4 weeks for the designers to think about your garden design, experiment with different ideas and create the garden layout plan.

What does a garden layout plan cost?

The cost of a garden layout plan is a small proportion of the overall makeover cost but, it’s probably the most important investment you could make. A well planned and beautifully built garden will enhance your life and increase the value of your property. If you choose to have your garden built in more affordable modules – each section will naturally blend in with the rest.

The cost of our garden layout plans is based on the size of your garden.

3D visualisations and planting plans are also available at an additional cost.