What areas do you cover?

Arthur Road Landscapes is based in Wimbledon. I design gardens in Wimbledon and all over south-west London. Occasionally we design gardens further afield in Surrey, north Hampshire, Berkshire and South Oxfordshire.

Do you specialise in a particular type of garden?

I enjoy designing lots of different types of gardens. I am known for designing simple and elegant gardens with a strong emphasis on increasing the quantity and quality of planting. Clients tell me I’m good at finding creative solutions for difficult spaces and making smaller gardens feel larger.

How sustainable are your garden designs?

I aim to be as sustainable as is practical within your budget. If we can reuse materials and/or plants in the design I will aim to do that. I don’t like cutting down healthy trees and will aim to make them work in the design. I try to keep the use of concrete to a minimum and rarely, if ever, use artificial grass. It is extremely rare that you will have fewer plants in your garden than at the beginning so your garden will have a greater capacity to absorb carbon than before.

Sustainability is a always changing and I do my best to keep up with best practice.

Do you charge for an initial consultation?

Before visiting your garden I always arrange a phone call. This is free of charge and helps me work out what sort of service you are looking for and whether or not we are a good fit for your project.

If that goes well I will arrange a date and time to visit you and your garden for a more detailed discussion. I charge £150 plus travel expenses for this consultation. This is set off against your design fee if you decide to go ahead.

What happens at the initial consultation?

This can take up to two hours. It’s an opportunity for you to tell me your hopes and dreams for your garden and go through some of the problems you have at the moment. I will give you my honest views on how achievable your desires are within your budget. Usually I am able to suggest how to make your garden look bigger, become more usable for you as well as more beautiful with a particular emphasis on increasing the quantity and quality of planting.

After the consultation I will produce a proposal detailing everything we’ve discussed and my fees for the design. This is a contract with terms and conditions which we will both sign.

How do you go about coming up with a design?

I prepare a detailed survey of your garden first of all. If your garden is large or on different levels I will get a professional surveyor to do the survey.

I use 3D design software to plan my garden designs. This can take upwards of several weeks as it involves getting to know your garden, some doodling, imagining different scenarios, refining your wish list and ensuring I come up with the best possible layout for your garden.

Once I’ve got a layout I think will work well for you I prepare some 3D imaging which I will show you at a follow-up meeting. This is a good time for you to say what you like and if you’d like to make any changes. Clients usually feel they can have a good level of input at this stage, it’s very much a collaboration between us.

How do we get from the garden design to an actual garden?

I have quite a few additional, detailed drawings to do as well as prepare a specification with all the materials required for a contractor to quote against to build the garden. I have a list of trusted contractors I work with but if you have someone else you’d like to choose we can usually work well together.

Once we have agreed the scope of work and costs with the contractor a start date will be agreed. I will make a few visits during the build to ensure things go as planned and help sort out any potential issues as they arise.

Part of the design fee includes preparing a planting plan in accordance with the proposal and including plants you’ve specifically requested if appropriate. We’ll work out a cost for the plants and I will order them and usually plant them myself.

What happens once the garden is finished?

My gardens are usually designed so that you can take care of them yourself. If you require I will prepare a plant care guide. I usually make regular visits back to the garden in the first year to check on its progress and get some photos of course. Occasionally I help clients get the garden ready after the first winter. Clients tell me they really value this level of aftercare and it gives them a lot of confidence going forward.

It is worth remembering that most garden designs will continue to improve in the first two to three years after planting. I always think that taking care of a new garden is more like having a young pet than getting a new kitchen. It’s a bit more work to begin with but gets easier with experience.