Bespoke Border Design
Designing Borders and Planting Plans
Having a lovely garden to look at is a blessing, but it can be difficult to know where to start if you haven't the knowledge or experience of planting and growing. You may have moved into a new house or recently had your existing garden landscaped, and as a result there may be empty spaces which you would like to fill and look beautiful. However how to decide what plants to buy? Most plants will grow and flower well in a sunny but not too dry, spot. But what if the border is not always sunny? Other plants need a specific type of soil. Gardeners call this concept "right plant, right place" and taking into consideration the needs of the plant allow us to choose the best ones for our particular spot.
Unless you grow them from seed or cuttings (which can take an awfully long time for some plants) buying plants costs money and you don't want them to die as a result of being in the wrong situation in your garden, wasting money. There are so many plants to choose from too - the garden centres are full of them!
If you have a border which needs plants, but you don't know which to choose, Catherine can help by drawing up a bespoke border plan of suitable plants for your garden, which will grow into the space and look good together. The planting plan drawn to scale, will show you the names of the plants, how many to buy (plants often look better planted in groups, rather than dotted around the border), and where to plant them in the border. In addition there will be a sketch of how the border will look once grown, and a list of the plants to take to a garden centre or nursery to buy or to order online. (Catherine will provide some suggestions for good places to buy the plants).
If you need help putting the plants into the ground once you have them, Catherine can help with that too.
Preparing Your Planting Plan
In order to draw up your planting plan, Catherine will come to your garden and measure the border and take note of the direction it faces (N,S, E, W). She will record any existing features which will be part of the border (such as a tree or established shrub). Catherine will then talk to you about what you would like from your border such as your favourite colours (or ones you hate!).
Alternatively Catherine will send you a questionnaire for you to fill so she can understand the size and shape of the border in question as well your likes and dislikes regarding plants and colours. The questionnaire will also ask your level of gardening expertise and how much time you have to look after the border once is been planted.
She will then draw up a scale plan showing labelled circles for each plant sized according to their eventual spread. A sketch of the border will show you the relative heights of the plants. A plant list and some recommended local nurseries, garden centres and online sources for the plants will also be provided.
Most of the plants that Catherine will choose are easy to look after and often long flowering or have lovely scented flowers or leaves. When you buy the plants, they will be fairly small as they don't always grow well in containers in the nursery and they don't have the space to store large plants which need a lot of watering. The plants want to be in the ground - and then they will grow. So. when planted, it may seem that there is a lot of space between the plants. Don't worry, gardening requires patience. Depending on the type of plant, the border will look much more established after 2 or 3 years.
The Plant List
Catherine will provide a list of all plants and bulbs proposed in the border design. This list shows the name of the plant (in Latin - don't be scared, the horticultural industry needs the Latin name to identify the actual plant (common names vary around the country and the world) and the staff should know the plant from its Latin name), the number of each plant needed in the border, whether it is evergreen or deciduous or dies back in winter, its eventual height and spread in metres, its main season of interest (when it flowers or has attractive leaves), an idea of its colour , some notes on caring for the plant and a link to the Royal Horticultural Society webpage on the plant, so you can get further information on it.
Pricing for Bespoke Border Design and Planting (*Available in North Somerset only)
Border up to 10sqm - £100
Border up to 15sqm - £125
For each square metre over 15sqm - £7.50/sqm
Prices include an initial site visit or a questionnaire and call to discuss requirements. The final plan, sketch and plant list will be provided electronically in a pdf file.
Sourcing plants and planting in final position in the border - £25/hour
If you would prefer a more cost effective option using standard 1m x1m or 3m x 1m border designs, please look at our Downloadable Border Designs which offer a cheap and easy way of designing borders for your own garden.