First steps as a garden designer

 

My first project planting plan presentation - see more below!

 When I've been telling people the good news that I'm embarking on an exciting new career and doing a course in garden design, everyone has been full of enthusiasm but also a bit of uncertainty, not really knowing exactly what being a garden designer involves.

Here is what the BBC's garden design website (worth a look generally) says a garden designer is:

"Professional garden designers are experienced in dealing with all aspects of garden and landscape design, mostly working in the private sector, with garden owners, to enhance their private spaces. The designer's contribution can vary from a consultation and professional advice on a small area to a complete transformation. Most designers offer project management as an integral part of their service...Creativity, design, drawing, computer and communication skills are essential, as is an in-depth understanding of horticulture and construction, plus knowledge of planning, law and environmental issues."
 

Blimey! At least I can tick the planning and law boxes :o) So, I'll try and bring that all to life a bit more by showing you the first design project that I worked through last term. The pictures of the plans are small on this blog (and not brilliant quality) but at least it will give you a feel for what I've produced so far. Obviously keep in mind that this is my first attempt at all aspects of the design process! 

All our course projects are 'real' i.e. the client really does want a new garden and it is likely one of the projects from the class (of 17) will be picked to be built. Our first project has been an urban residential garden, just the sort of thing that will be a typical project starting out. So here are the steps we all went through to produce the design:

The Brief: Our clients were a couple without children living in a Victorian terrace house in Fulham, SW London. They have just renovated the house, making it open plan and very contemporary, and they wanted a front and back garden to match. I won't bore you with all the details of the brief but they wanted both gardens to be very low maintenance and the back garden to have an intimate and relaxing seating area.

The Survey: a site visit and survey is the first stage of any project - from this a site masterplan is drawn up either by hand (in this case) or on the computer (as will be the case in future projects). We surveyed the gardens in the old fashioned way - using a long tape measure and triangulation. I knew those skills learnt on those geography fieldtrips would one day be useful!!

The Concept: it is crucial to have a clear concept for a garden design. A concept or mood board conveys these ideas and here's mine for this project. In short, my concept was to create a neutral, light, contemporary, rectilinear design with strong, dark accents, as summed up by the abstract painting on the board. You can see that there are images of materials, features and planting ideas also included.

The Masterplan: This is the design outline, not including the planting details. Once the survey is drawn up, the masterplan is developed using layers (of tracing paper or equivalent on the computer), mapping out spaces and elements of the garden, refining the design as you go. This is a crucial part of the creative process and I admit I really laboured over it this time - it is such a different way of thinking that when producing a legal opinion or the like! But even after completing this project and working up other quick designs over the term, I feel increasingly confident about doing this and I'm really looking forward to getting the next project (remind me of saying this when I'm pulling my hair out with it in a few weeks' time!).

Planting plans: The masterplan is developed into a planting plan showing what plants are to go where using symbols and labelling. Designing using plants is a tricky business. You need to think about colours and interest through the seasons as well as how it's going to look in 5 years' time i.e. how the plants are grow and what maintenance they're going to need in the process. Developing effective plant combinations that are appropriate to the site and the brief is at the heart of being a good garden designer. At the moment my head is swimming with latin names as I am building my plant knowledge so quickly through projects, garden visits and generally cramming!

Visuals: Plans can be really hard to read so producing effective 3D visuals is essential for getting across a design, in essence to sell the product. Visuals also give a client a sense of the designer's creativity and style so they need to be good, however you produce them. I've had great fun this term doing visuals, I love it and can't wait to develop lots of new ways of creating them, by hand and on the computer. At the top of this post I put my presentation board for the back garden which includes my planting plan and what's called an axonimetric drawing i.e. a 3D drawing created from a plan. They don't use perspective but give a really quick and clear idea of what the finished garden is going to look like. I also used the technique for my front garden planting plan presentation and here it is:

Presentation: We presented our masterplans and then later our planting plans to the client, course director and the rest of the class. Public speaking is something I'm very used to but talking to a judge about a point of property law is not exactly the same thing! In reality, presenting ideas to private residential clients will often involve talking over plans and visuals at the kitchen table, working in modifications if required. The end result will hopefully be getting your garden built. In some cases designers stay involved to project manage the build and planting. In this case, my design wasn't chosen but I got a good mark and great feedback and it's given me lots of confidence for getting stuck into my next project.

When I tell people about what I'm doing, I think a lot of people wonder (and some have asked), "Is there really enough demand to make a living?" I'm hoping so, obviously! Like in any field, garden designers work in lots of different ways and at different levels. Starting out, I can see that being flexible and very proactive is key - putting out a portfolio, freelancing for other designers to build up experience, undertaking projects in your own right, entering design competitions, gaining horticultural, design and build experience through paid or even voluntary work - all of these are ways to get started. That's exciting but all quite daunting! What I'm trying to do at the moment is immerse myself in all aspects of the course to try and produce some great work in my coursework projects.

If you've managed to read this far, thank you! I've just realised how much I've written...