Garden Design

Garden Diary - August

We have had a dry summer this year and watering will be very important, particularly for trees and shrubs which have been planted in the last two years. Their root systems will not have developed sufficiently to cope with dry conditions. More...

Coton Manor

Coton Manor is a beautiful traditional English garden centred around a honey-coloured 17thC manor house. In the 1920s the present owner’s grandparents began developing the garden and successive generations have continued this process to the present day, making best use of its natural setting which provides stunning views across the Northamptonshire countryside. More...

Sculpture In Stone

Designers are always looking for interesting items to finish off a project and make it unique. Sculptural items are perfect for focal points or more subtle decoration but can often be extremely expensive. Tom Clark is a stone carver who caters for all pockets, not only creating large figures and statues with a price tag to match but at the same time producing casts of his most popular carvings for the smaller purse. More...

Honey Bees Need You

Einstein said ‘If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left. No more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man’. So how many bees have you seen in your garden this year? More...

Future Gardens

If you are looking for beautiful, thought provoking and educational gardens that have something for all the family then you couldn’t do much better than to visit the Butterfly World Project, St Albans. More...

Basic Pergola and Arbour Construction

Pergolas and arbours can create atmosphere, link different parts of the garden or provide a shady place to walk or sit. They give instant height and allow the gardener to grow climbers somewhere other than a wall or fence. More...

Garden Up The Wall

We are all familiar with using plants to cover walls and fences but these are normally planted in soil. The latest trend is for vertical planting on the wall itself. More...

Working In Wood - A Green Oak Pergola

Late in 2007 Williams and Marsh were contacted by landscape gardener Johnny Winter, who was looking for a unique wooden pergola to surround a circular paved area for a recently completed project. The brief was for an octagonal oak pergola with joinery to match that of a new barn at the front of the house. More...

The Vertical Garden: From Nature To The City

This is the book anyone who has seen Patrick Blanc's vertical gardens either in the flesh, in magazines or on television has been waiting for. I am sure what is on everyone’s mind is 'How does he do it?'. More...

BBC Gardeners' World Live

Some of the inspirational garden designs on show at the BBC Gardeners' World Live Show 2009 in Birmingham, UK. More...

Future Gardens Garden Designers

Future Gardens is the first phase of the Butterfly World Project; it encompasses twelve competition designer gardens and seven permanent gardens. We have photos of the inspirational gardens by some of Europe’s best known garden designers as well as some new faces to the gardening world. More...

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2009

Some photos of this year's amazing show gardens by the world's top designers at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2009. More...

Sustainability – Why Bother?

To be sustainable means to use resources that meet our needs but without damaging the environment. For garden designers that translates to using materials whose production does not destroy natural habitat and will cause minimal pollution during their transportation or end use along with reusing materials already on site. More...

How To Choose A Garden Design Course

As garden design has become ever more popular so the range of courses on offer has also increased. Today courses can be found at universities, colleges and other horticultural establishments. As there are no set requirements for garden design courses when deciding on which course is right for you there are probably four major considerations: location, time, cost and course content. More...

Iron In The Soul – And Garden

No garden designer can have failed to notice the increasingly prominent - and innovative - use made of ironwork by the industry's trail-blazers and trend-setters. Indeed, the Best Show Garden and the Best Urban Garden at the 2008 Chelsea Flower Show both incorporated ironwork to great effect. More...

Working With Willow

It was by sheer accident that Jay Davey ended up working with willow. A chance meeting while living in Canada, brought him to the Somerset Levels. The area is the perfect environment for willow, where it has been grown for thousands of years. More...

Find A Garden Designer

Use our unique Find A Garden Designer service to find a garden designer near you. More...

UK designers register here. If you are a Garden Designer in the USA or Canada you can now register to appear in the new North American Find A Garden Designer directory.

How To Choose A Garden Designer

A good place to start is by looking at the website of the Society of Garden Designers. All garden designers listed on their site have a minimum of two years' experience, have gone through a rigorous process of evaluation and have proved they can carry out their work to a very high standard. However, if a garden designer is not listed it does not mean they cannot provide a good service. More...

The Society Of Garden Designers

In 1981 a few of the country’s top garden designers decided their industry needed its own professional body and as a result The Society of Garden Designers was established and today is still the only professional body in the UK dedicated solely to garden design. More...

Art In The Garden

The design and build of a garden is much like that of a house: the main construction is crucial but the fun stuff is what comes at the end. In a house that means choosing bathroom and kitchen furniture, paint colours and fabrics while in a garden it will be planting borders and sourcing water features, patio furniture and sculpture. More...

Plants in Focus - Dicentra

As the early spring colour of snowdrops, daffodils and crocuses comes to an end it is time for the early-flowering perennials to take over. One such favourite is Dicentra spectabilis, also known by many romantic names such as bleeding heart, lady’s locket and lady in the bath that describe the flower characteristics.
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Top Spot For Garden Design Websites

In today's computer oriented world the internet appears to be king! Every business wants to be top of the Google listings and garden designers are no exception. More...

Colour In The Garden

When considering colour in the garden, plants are usually the first thing that spring to mind, and of course are a vital component in 99.9% of gardens (there are a minority of gardens that have no plants in them whatsoever, but that is another article in itself). More...

BBC Gardeners’ World Live – always worth a visit

Every June, Birmingham National Exhibition Centre becomes the venue for a show full of inspiration for gardeners. Following hot-on-the-heels of the Chelsea Flower Show (the most famous flower show in the world), it might be thought that the British gardener would have had enough of show gardens and expensive lawn mowers. But apparently not! With its special mix of live gardening entertainment, fantastic plants and shopping opportunities Gardeners’ World Live attracts thousands of people every year. More...

Evergreens – the Cinderellas of the garden

‘Year-round interest’ is probably second only to ‘low maintenance’ as the most frequent request from client to designer and to achieve this part of their brief designers need to include some form of evergreen planting. Evergreen plants are often considered to be boring, but they come in a huge range of size, leaf colour and shape. More...

New Government Rules On Front Gardens In England

Garden designers need to be aware that from the 1st of October 2008, new government rules regarding the paving of front gardens come into force. More...

Inspiration

If you are seeking design ideas for your garden, inspiration can be found from looking in the right books, visiting great gardens and noticing the shapes and patterns that can be seen all around you every day. Many people make the mistake of buying a book of designs and expecting to find one the exact shape and size of their garden. Disappointment is sure to follow as no two gardens are the same. More...

Dream Gardens: 100 Inspirational Gardens

To be honest, at first I wasn't sure about this publication. After the first quick flip-through my initial impression was it's just another pretty picture book – I have now changed my mind! More...

Hard Landscaping Know-How

It is probably safe to assume that most garden designers join the profession because they love either planting or design and sometimes both. However, it is less likely that they will profess a huge knowledge of construction and yet it is hard landscaping that forms the foundation for most designs. More...