Great Expectations - Marian Boswall ...
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CHOOSING A DESIGNER
Great Expectations
Make your dreams a reality by commissioning a professional
garden designer to transform your precious outdoor space,
using our guide to the intricacies of the process
WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY IMAGE CLIVE NICHOLS
These rills in a private
garden were inspired
by a similar design by
the great landscape
architect Sir Geoffrey
Jellicoe, at Shute
House in Dorset.
JANUARY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 73
CHOOSING A DESIGNER
be the full service, although for most Above Plenty of The SGD is an important part of
designers the dream is to work on designers, including the industry, but not every established
Angel Collins, have an
a complete garden and oversee the designer is a member. A good way
ongoing relationship
build,” explains Andrew Duff, designer, with their clients as to gauge someone is to view their
managing director of the Inchbald the garden matures. portfolio, which should be online, and
School of Design and vice-chair of the social media channels – Instagram is
Society of Garden Designers (SGD). a fair place to start. Clear communication from the
Many but certainly not all designers will have start is a good indicator of what will follow.
I
some kind of qualification in design or landscape Andrew advises sifting through a few designers
architecture. Well-known schools include KLC, to find those with an appealing design and work
n recent months, few places have been as Above Sinuous curves Inchbald School of Design, London College of ethic. Meet with them more than once before you
cherished as our gardens, which, no matter define a natural pond Garden Design, Writtle, Capel Manor and the commit. Then, think hard about what you want for
by designer Julie Toll.
how large or small, whether rural or urban, Right Marian
Oxford College of Garden Design, all of which your garden, or, if it’s easier, what you don’t want.
have offered relief from the strains of these Boswall designed offer courses of varying lengths. Larger firms To establish a visual representation of this, create
unprecedented times. The rush on garden this labyrinth of might employ designers with degrees in landscape a folder of images cut out from magazines or saved
centres and nurseries over the spring and summer wildflowers in Sussex. architecture. But while acquiring a qualification is from online platforms, adding or deleting images as
of 2020 points to how much our gardens have come a good indicator of ability, it doesn’t automatically your preferences become clearer. The designer, too,
to mean to us. But sometimes putting in a few new make someone a good designer. Some designers with should develop a mood board for you to establish,
IMAGES GAP/JOHN GLOVER; JASON INGRAM; CLIVE NICHOLS
plants isn’t quite enough. If lockdown has inspired a wealth of experience have no formal training. as Andrew puts it, that you’re both seeing the right
greater expectations of your outdoor space, hiring With its extensive search facility, the SGD is a shade of yellow. Don’t be shy. Designers deal with
a designer could be just the thing to do. good place to start looking for a designer. This is a range of clients, from those who have no visual
Designers offer varying levels of service. It’s the industry professional body: accredited members skills to experienced plantspeople. They are adept at
possible to contract one to elevate a front garden, must subscribe to a code of conduct, and hold up-to- determining what it is you want – and need.
make changes to a terrace or overhaul dated date professional indemnity and public liability Principally a designer of country gardens, Angel
planting, but good designers can also develop, insurance. The SGD also offers conflict mediation Collins says one of her first questions is how much
for example, a country garden masterplan to be in the rare event of dispute. “Should a client and resource will be available to the garden once it is
executed over many years, as and when time and designer fall out, either party can come to the SGD built. This determines the extent and nature of any
funds allow. “A designer can offer a morning’s and we are there to mediate,” says Andrew. “But if hard landscaping, and what plants are used. Set a
consultation or sketch a plan. It doesn’t need to it’s an honest relationship, disputes are unlikely.” budget and be realistic about the time and money
74 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JANUARY 2021 JANUARY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 75
CHOOSING A DESIGNER
Money Talk
Every project attracts
a unique set of costs,
ranging from a couple
of thousand pounds to
the millions. Whatever
the size, obtaining
clarity over what will be
you can commit, both for the build and in years
charged is essential.
to come. “You can’t put in an amazing but high-
maintenance garden and expect the owner to look Do expect quotes for
after it if they’re not committed,” she says. the work, bearing in
Both Andrew and Angel stress that a good mind that day rates
working relationship underpins a good garden. tend to be higher
“There are so many dimensions to this work, but on smaller jobs, but
when you have your first meeting you are already come down on bigger
building a professional friendship. You want to projects involving
really get on with the person you’ll be working with. larger sums and
And, as a designer, you want to give your life and longer time frames.
soul to the project,” Angel explains.
Make sure you
After the first meeting, larger gardens may
understand the fee
undergo a topographical survey. This establishes
structure before work
the shape of the garden, which is foremost in the Top left For Andrew in the entire process,
begins. It is not unusual Duff, who designed
designer’s mind when they are designing, and will working with landscapers
for a deposit to be this corner, clear
aid the landscapers who build the garden. “The communication is key.
and gardeners and helping
paid at the outset and
survey is in my mind at all times,” says Angel. “Then Above A timeless to put in plants. Be clear:
then for further sums
you start to draw. You want something right for the planting scheme with at the outset, establish
to be paid at various a classical mood, by
countryside and house but that also has an extra- the degree of engagement
stages of work. Costs George Carter.
special loveliness about it.” Country gardens in and what you will be
might include travel,
particular are influenced by their surrounds, be they responsible for.
materials and ongoing
pasture, woodland, hillside or water. City gardens Depending on the commission, it is worth
IMAGES GAP/ANDREW DUFF; MARIANNE MAJERUS
maintenance if the
might borrow the view of a neighbouring tree or allowing around six months for the process, from
company offers this.
hedge. Good practise will take this into account. appointing the designer to completion. But be
Designers have their individual ways of working. Confirm the number prepared to join a waiting list, both for the designer
Larger, big-name firms will have a team of staff, of drawings that will and the preferred landscaping contractor. Much
and contact with the well-known designer may be delivered. It is usual depends on whether you have building work going
be limited; small practices will be more intimate. to pay for the delivery on elsewhere, since the contractors for this may well
Some specialise in design only, handing over their of each one. Ask for also work on the garden. Angel, who visits some
plans and planting lists and returning at the point of examples to ensure gardens once a week, says: “I monitor my time and
positioning plants if necessary. Others are involved they’re up to scratch. take on only what I can manage.” While the garden
JANUARY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 77
CHOOSING A DESIGNER
Little Black Book
Selected practices of varying sizes, offering
garden styles from classic to contemporary
Acres Wild James Alexander-Sinclair
Debbie Roberts and Ian Smith A smaller practice with an
specialise in the design and inimitable designer at the helm,
master planning of larger country offering classic designs large
gardens in Sussex, Surrey, Kent, and small. Tel: 07515 336356;
Hampshire and abroad. Tel: jamesalexandersinclair.com
01403 891084; acreswild.co.uk
Jo Thompson Landscape
Marian Boswall & Garden Design
Landscape Architects Known for gently floriferous,
Marian Boswall’s commissions winning designs often shown
range from parkland to private at RHS Chelsea, Jo has an
gardens, all undertaken with international client list.
a respect for the natural world. Tel: 020 7127 8438; jothompson-
Tel: 020 7305 7153; garden-design.co.uk
marianboswall.com
Julie Toll Landscape
is being built, do allow for Above In older George Carter Garden Design & Garden Design
some disruption. If you gardens, a designer Veteran designer specialising An experienced designer with a
can refresh planting
are having building work in formal spaces inspired by deep interest in the natural world,
and tidy focal points.
done, the architectural Top right Good design the geometry of 17th-century working in the UK and abroad.
firm might recommend has lasting presence, gardens, an ethic suiting both old Tel: 01438 310095; julietoll.co.uk
landscape architects and as in this classic and modern. Tel: 01362 668130;
garden by Acres Wild.
designers with whom they georgecartergardens.co.uk Sue Townsend Garden Design
have worked in the past. Specialising in simple lines,
All will agree that the better the communication Kate Gould Gardens bold plants and materials
between them, the better the end result. Renowned for chic, small, city sensitive to their surroundings,
Gardens are lasting, personal spaces and it is gardens, especially in London. Sue works across East
important to feel completely happy with what Larger urban gardens might be Anglia and occasionally in
you are paying for. Designers do have a stylistic formal or more contemporary. London. Tel: 01728 648790;
signature, but their primary function is to implement Tel: 01923 839733; suetownsendgardendesign.co.uk
IMAGES GAP/HOWARD RICE/CAROLINE MARDON
their clients’ wishes and tastes in a practical but kategouldgardens.com
beautiful way. “I share everything with the client Butter Wakefield
right from the start. I share the design process, Rosebank Landscaping Garden Design
which allows the client to feel invested in the design Matt Keightley is creative director Specialises in bringing a country
and gives them a chance to communicate what they of this firm, offering design and garden mood to smaller urban
like and don’t like,” Andrew explains. n build on mainly urban gardens spaces, particularly in London
and public spaces. Tel: 0203 876 but also elsewhere. Tel: 07973
For more information: angelacollins.co.uk; 5299; rosebanklandscaping.co.uk 516149; butterwakefield.co.uk
andrewduffgardendesign.com; sgd.org.uk
78 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JANUARY 2021
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