Spring 2009

Blog updates have been few & far between this Spring – a side effect of the practice being extremely busy despite the economic climate.    We’ve picked up several new projects (many by reccomendation) and some existing clients have returned for additional phases of work, so there has been little time to actually enjoy the glorious weather.

We’ve completed a front and back garden project in Sandhurst, a family garden near Hook and a sloping front and back garden in Farnborough as well starting the planting of a 5 acre site in Rowledge.  There’s no doubt that the economic climate is affecting the scope of some of the projects – one scheme had most of the planting budget removed when the client’s company became a victim of the recession, and it’s more important than ever to look for the optimum balance of design content versus budget.

New projects include a charming small walled garden in Eton which is detached from the house, a small modern wildlife garden in Rotherwick, a shady garden in a conservation area near Woking and a steeply sloping back garden in Godalming (with extremely difficult access as well).    Many of these are gardens where the owners have just ‘given up’ because of what they perceived as the problems, but through careful design each of these can be a beautiful, functional garden that fulfils the clients diverse needs.

Winter 2009

It looks like this is going to be a proper winter, the like of which we haven’t seen for the past few years.  Thanks to modern materials and admixtures construction has been able to carry on virtually uninterrupted for the winters of 2006/7 and 2007/8, but the extreme cold weather in January 2009 froze the ground and then the snowfall has meant that site work was impossible for a couple of weeks.   Fortunately we’d completed the last ‘active’ planting job of the year when it was still relatively mild in mid December and don’t have anyother scheduled until mid March, so our clients’ investment in their new plants has been protected.

We’ve had a couple of enquiries this year from people who have realised that the stationary housing market means that this is a great time to be thinking about adding ‘kerb appeal’ to a property by revising the front and back gardens.  People who wait for the housing market to spring back into life before revising their gardens will be left with the choice of either spending a fortune on large mature specimen plants, or else having a freshly planted garden that looks a bit ‘gappy’.  Dealing with the gardens now means that they will (probably) have the 2009 growing season to mature before the house goes onto the market, giving time for the garden to become a bit more established without any extra cost.

The practice is still busy – we’ve recently been instructed to start work on the second phase of a 1/3 acre private garden in Weybridge, we’re finishing the construction and planting of a front garden in Farnborough, tendering for a front & back garden scheme in Sandhurst, getting ready for planting at a 3/4 acre garden (in 5 acre grounds) in Rowledge and starting work on the detailed design of a 2 acre private garden in Runfold.  Our new fixed price consultancy service has been attracting some interest as well.

2008 Review

So this will be the last update to the blog this year.  It’s been an ‘interesting’ year in many ways – we’ve had some great projects, a lousy summer and have ended up with a difficult economic climate, but overall this year has once again been about delivering quality gardens that fit our clients needs.

So what was going on with garden design in 2008?  Well, if you believed the media hype at Chelsea we’d be inundated with clients looking for vertical walls of planting, green roofs and the latest ‘must have’ plants.  The reality is far from this – the fundamental requirements for a garden remain generally unchanged and most clients tend to want a scheme that allows them to enjoy the space outside their house without taking excessive maintenance.  If the family has young children then there is generally a requirement for a decent area to play in, and ultimately the garden has to work for the client’s lifestyle.

The differences we’re seeing are an increased familiarity (and comfort) with contemporary design – not inner-city sleek minimalism, but simple clean lines and less demand for organic curves.   The over-riding requirements for planting are low maintenance and child-friendliness.  Ornamental grasses are still finding favour with many clients, but we’re seeing an increasing number of clients who want to make the garden a haven for wildlife so that involves a broader range of flowering plants, with some shrubs and trees used to give different habitats within the scheme.  The use of water is still an issue for some clients – those with children obviously want to ensure that the water doesn’t present a safety issue and others are concerned at the perceived level of maintenance that may be needed (which is actually very low).

Climate change is still impacting our designs as well – this came to the fore in 2006 with clients wanting the ability to choose between sunny and shady seating areas. The damp grey summers of 2007 and 2008 have changed this perception a little, with additional thoughts about drainage of paved areas and perhaps even somewhere to shelter from the rain in the garden.  We’ve designed a couple of schemes that incorporate a grey-water storage and irrigation scheme, though we do tend to specify plants that should tolerate the anticipated conditions and not require too much irrigation.  Productive gardens (aka veg patches!) have also started to make an appearance on some wish lists though this is usually tempered by the request for the garden not to need too much maintenance!

So, where to in 2009?  Well the one thing that seems certain is that budgets are going to be squeezed.  This may mean that we design some schemes to include elements that can be built later, or perhaps for larger schemes we’ll design a scheme that can be built in several phases.  The selection of materials and detailing of the scheme can also have a major impact on the overall cost, so these are areas that we’ll have to focus on.

Another change for 2009 will be the impact of the new legislation for driveways.  This was introduced in October 2008 and we’ve already dealt with two front garden projects that are affected by these rules, but it’s likely that the new legislation will come as a surprise to many of our clients in 2009.

Despite the media’s gloom and doom we’re now looking to the second quarter of 2009 for further commissions so it’s worth making an enquiry sooner rather than later to see how we can help with your project.

November Update

It’s been a while since we’ve done a recap of some of our current projects, so here goes!

In Farnborough we’re working with a client who is undertaking extensive modernisation and redevelopment of their home including the re-design of both front and back gardens. The back garden is a reasonable size, around 20m square, but throws up many of the issues of a sloping site as it rises by around 2m from the back door to the highest point (approximately East to West), and also falls by about 1m from one side to the other (North to South). The client was keen to include a hot-tub within the scheme, as well as a cooking/entertaining area for adults and a decent level-ish lawn space for children to play on. A simplified visualisation of our proposed scheme is shown below – planting will be taking place in mid November so we hope to be able to add some photos of the finished garden soon.

Sloping site in Farnborough with space for cooking, entertainment and play

At the same site we’re now moving forward with the front garden scheme – this is obviously going to be subject to the new planning regulations on driveways so we’ll be using a soakaway to deal with any surface runoff from the scheme.

In Runfold we’re working on a scheme for a property with around 2 acres of gardens. The client is adding 3 separate extensions to the property including a new kitchen, lounge and swimming pool. With 2 acres of garden there’s obviously plenty of scope to meet all of the family’s diverse requirements so we’re including a new tennis court, a large grass area for the children to play on, a small fruit garden, a sun-trap terrace just outside the pool, a more formal ‘adult’ garden and new garages with improved space for parking and turning. Thus far we’ve presented our initial proposal to the client and are preparing to move ahead with the more detailed design for the first tranche of construction work.

In Camberley we’re working with a client who had just had a new driveway installed, but the driveway contractors had no idea what to do with the remainder of the front garden. We’ve developed a proposal to add structure and interest to the front garden using a little hard landscaping enhanced with year-round interest from the low maintenance planting scheme. We’re currently scheduling the construction for the hard landscaping and the client is keen for this project to be complete by the end of the year.

In Rowledge the hard landscaping has been completed at the 5 acre site we’ve been working on for the last 18 months or so. The planting plans have been presented and approved but planting has been delayed to spring 2009 by a series of other events which have in turn meant that the deer fencing isn’t yet complete.

In Hook we’re working on a small family garden of around 200 square metres. The project has been put out to tender and the contractors have just returned their prices so we’re expecting the client to make an instruction shortly. This project should be constructed in early 2009.

In Frimley we’ve been instructed by a client who is about to purchase some additional land from their neighbour, adding a new strip of garden to the side of their existing plot. The client is also about to start construction of a new extension to the house, so the garden will need to be comprehensively revised to fit the new layout of the site.

As well as all of the above design work we’ve also been quite busy with the teaching side of the business, helping other designers get to grips with the CAD packages Vectorworks and SketchUp. These are professional tools that can provide massive productivity gains to the designer, especially on large or complex projects.

We’re now looking to the first quarter of 2009 for further commissions so it’s worth making an enquiry sooner rather than later to see how we can help with your project.

SUDS on your driveway

1st October 2008 sees the introduction of new legislation for the construction of domestic driveways. The new laws mean that planning permission will be required for any driveway (technically any area over 5 square metres) where rainwater is allowed to drain onto roads or pavements rather than being managed within the confines of the garden. This is, in effect, an extension of the Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS) rules that have affected commercial developments for some time.

The reason for SUDS and the new legislation is that the combined effect of thousands of square metres of new paving pouring water into an existing drainage system can be potentially catastrophic. Firstly, in heavy rain the extra volume of water can overwhelm the sewers and ditches that carry the water away, causing local flooding. Secondly the water that is washed off these paved surfaces can be contaminated with oil, organic matter and unsavoury chemicals – while an individual drive may not contribute too much the combined effect of many driveways can result in a harmful effect on the flora and fauna within the water courses that are used for drainage. Finally the water that is diverted into the drainage pipes does not contribute to the maintenance and replenishment of ground water levels, leading to further environmental damage.

So what can the average householder do about this?

Well, the first option is to use a permeable paving system such as permeable block pavers (not standard blocks), porous asphalt or gravel. Of course gravel is not a great surface to use on a sloping driveway and (unfortunately for designers) many porous paving systems are ‘aesthetically challenged’ but we hope that the new laws will encourage manufacturers to expand the range of products that are available. The second option is to take care of the water on site – perhaps by draining the driveway to a lawn of planting bed or adding a soakaway (if building regs permit this).

Perhaps these new regulations will even encourage people to think a little harder about the design of their front gardens rather than simply paving every square inch. After all it is possible to have a front garden that accommodates the family cars and still looks good!

The long, hot summer of 2008

Global warming is a fickle thing. There we were in late July with two projects nearing the end of their hard landscaping, the thermometers hovering in the high 20’s and no sign of a drop of rainwater. Of course the next step of the garden build is the planting – but with the threat of another hot and dry summer we suggested to our clients that they should defer the planting for a month or so rather than try to keep a combined total of around £16,000 worth of plants alive under the baking sun.

Our clients were happy with this idea, but of course we all know what happened next. A wet, cool August would have been ideal for planting – hindsight is always 20/20! The plants are now scheduled for delivery in early September and should get plenty of time to establish in the Autumn, ready to grow away like mad in the Spring of 2009.

Of course an irrigation system may have been one way to alleviate some of the concerns of planting in the summer. The counter to this is that at Pure Garden Design we’re focused on using the right plant in the right place, so the plants are selected for the natural conditions on site rather than attempting to force a moisture loving plant to grow in a well drained site (or vice-versa). Furthermore, in the summer of 2006 the hosepipe bans meant that irrigation systems couldn’t be used anyway, defeating their purpose. Well timed planting and a little care during establishment will do just as much without the financial outlay, or the use of tens or hundreds of metres of plastic piping in the garden.

CAD in garden design

It started off in engineering, then moved to architecture and is now taking hold in the garden design profession. What is it? Computer aided drawing (or drafting or design), otherwise known as CAD. At Pure Garden Design we’re committed to the use of CAD but there are some garden designers who seem to feel that using a computer to draw somehow results in an inferior end product.

I’m never sure why that is – after all, you never drew an entire plan using only freehand techniques but drew on a number of artificial tools and techniques which had to be learned before you could generate professional looking results. Scale rules, protractors, compasses and the dreaded smudgy Rotring pens all take a bit of getting used to and can be very frustrating at first.

Even with CAD the drawing board still has a place in the design studio – even when using pressure and tilt sensitive pens on graphics tablets is still hard to ‘doodle’ with the same freedom that you have with a soft pencil on a piece of tracing paper. But, and it’s a big but, as soon as that basic design starts to take shape the computer now offers the best solution for developing it from rough shapes into a client presentation drawing and then on to contractors drawings, planting plans and so on. There’s a massive productivity benefit to gained from the ability to make comprehensive revisions to a project for a 5 acre site and re-issue an entire suite of contractor’s drawings in only an hour or so, and this also translates into being able to be more flexible with our clients while remaining cost effective and keeping a lid on the design fee.

Some of the reluctance to adopting CAD probably comes from the fear of going from the known, familiar environment of the drawing board to the unfamiliar and potentially frustrating environment of the CAD system. This is where effective training and support is so important, which brings me to the point of writing this entry.

We’ve spent a fair proportion of July engaged in CAD tuition, both Vectorworks and Sketchup. It’s not a service that we publicise too heavily as the practice’s main focus is on garden design, but we do get asked to help people now and again. These are usually ‘word of mouth’ type referrals, and are often people who’ve done an expensive CAD course elsewhere then not sat in front of their PC for months, so when they do come back they’re completely flummoxed by the program. Our tuition always takes place on the client’s site and on their machine, preferably using a live project of theirs as an example so that the work we do is of immediate benefit to them.

We also offer a post tuition support service – if anyone gets stuck or (more usually) frustrated about doing something a long-winded way we can use a remote desktop service to work with them to solve the problem. Again this is more effective than just emailing files back and forth as we can work on the problem together and we can each follow every movement of the mouse and every click, rather than trying to decipher a page of ‘help’ text.

There’s no doubt that in the coming years the use of CAD in garden design will follow the same trend as in architecture practices – Sir Norman Foster and Frank Gehry still do pencil sketches of their buildings concepts, but I bet there aren’t many drawing boards to be seen in their offices!

July already

Phew – 2008 is flying by at the moment. Here’s another update of some of our current projects.

The good news is that our project in Weybridge has now been fully signed off by the client and they have been in touch to say that the new garden is already getting complements from neighbours and visitors. The bespoke metal railings were the last component of the garden to be installed (along with the Hornbeam hedge that sits behind them) and these really were the ‘icing on the cake’. We hope to have some photos of the site in the ‘case studies‘ part of the website soon. This project was split into two separate phases, and the work just completed was the first of these – the second phase is loosely scheduled for late 2008/early 2009 and will see the construction of a formal terrace and lawns in the 1/3 acre site.

Construction has continued apace in Rowledge and the hard landscaping is virtually complete. We’re meeting the clients shortly to run through the planting proposals, though it is likely that much of the planting will be delayed until the autumn. We expect to plant up the area immediately around the house as this is the part of the garden that will be used the most in the summer (and is the easiest to maintain) with the lower terrace levels being left until later.

In Farnborough work is progressing well on our project at the sloping site, though the contractors are now getting a little distracted by the planes practicing their air displays for the Air Show!  At the time of writing work was focussed on the construction of the main water feature that will link the two levels of the garden – here’s a photo of the work in progress (below). We’ve also agreed the planting proposals with the client but, as with our Rowledge project, the client is keeping an eye on how the ‘long hot summer of 2008′ develops before committing to a planting date.

We’ve also presented our sketch proposal for the small family garden near Hook – the clients were pleased with our concept and we’re now moving forward to the more detailed design stages. We’ve also agreed the final concept for a front & back garden project in Sandhurst and we’re now developing the drawings needed by the contractors and will be meeting the client on their return from a business trip to agree materials and finishes.

June Roundup

As usual, here’s the latest situation of some of our projects to give an idea of the range of work that we do. Despite the vagaries of the weather there’s been a fair bit of progress with our ‘live’ projects on site this month, though of course it would have been even better with a more stable weather pattern.

In Rowledge the construction work is progressing on the garden we’ve designed for a new build house with 5 acres of grounds and around 1 acre of designated garden. The site sits on the side of a small valley so there is a considerable slope from the house to the bottom of the garden, and to make the site more useable for the owner’s family our design includes a level lawn area close to the house. This required a fair bit of construction, but most of the retaining walls are now built (see the image below) and work is proceeding on the paving and preparation for planting. We’re now working on the planting plan and are looking forward to the increasingly rare opportunity to plant some native English Oak to enhance the landscape for years to come.

In Weybridge we are nearing completion on the first phase of the formal gardens for an early 20th century tile hung house with a garden of around 1/3 acre. The contractors have now returned to the site to hang the new bespoke metal railings that will give the property’s frontage its own individual character – more photos to follow in due course.

In Farnborough both of our projects have started construction on site. The first of these is a sloping site which is being transformed into a terraced garden with water linking the different levels. As long as the weather is favourable the contractor expects to have the hard landscaping complete by mid July, but that leaves us at rather a poor time of year to be investing a reasonable sum of money in plants for a new garden. We’ve agreed with the client that we’ll have to play things by ear when it comes to the planting – if we get the warm, wet summer that’s been predicted then we may be OK but the client is prepared to defer the bulk of the planting to later in the year if necessary.

Our second project in Farnborough is for a house which is currently undergoing refurbishment. The back garden also has a fair slope on it and as it hadn’t been touched for years it had slowly turned into a jungle, so even a quick clear out and spruce up would have been a major undertaking. The new garden includes a barbecue area and space for a hot tub as well as a reasonable lawn to allow the kids (of all ages!) to play. The site has been cleared and the main construction is scheduled to start this month.

On the drawing board we’re still working with our client in Sandhurst to develop a scheme that delivers all the functionality that the client wants while fitting with their target budget. The client works overseas quite frequently so our use of modern computer generated visuals has been a real benefit during this process. We’re able to work up a new proposal and email that directly to the client wherever they are rather than having to wait for them to be back in the UK so we can visit them in person and present sketches on paper.

We’ve also recently been commissioned to design a small family garden for a house on a recent development near Hook in Hampshire, and are in the process of tendering for the construction of a new elevated terrace for a house in Sandhurst. More news on these and other projects as they develop.

Chelsea 2008

So the Chelsea Flower Show is upon us once again and the media is full of claims about this being the ‘cutting edge’ of garden design, showing the latest trends and fashions. There are always claims that the show gardens are like the London Fashion week of the gardening world – but let’s remember a couple of things about Chelsea. First of all, it’s not a garden design show – it’s a flower show. That means that the actual design of the gardens is only really considered at the outset, and the judging is done by assessing whether the finished garden meets the designer’s original brief (as well as the quality of construction and planting). The judging panel contains a number of high profile designers so there is clearly some filtering of the schemes for quality and content, but they are certainly not ‘cutting edge’.

The second thing to remember is that the show is organised by the RHS and is a high profile media frenzy. The show gardens all have significant budgets and therefore are sponsored by big names who want the gardens to gain exposure. This means that they must be accessible to the mass market and must reflect the qualities and values of the sponsors and the RHS – we only need to look at the gradual taming of Diarmuid Gavin’s Chelsea gardens to see this effect. This all combines to mean that the designs selected are less like London Fashion Week and more like a designer clothing label launching their latest high street collection.

For the London Fashion Week equivalent of garden design we need to look at events where designers are given free reign to come up with ideas and where funding is provided by the show’s organisers rather than commercial interests. The French Chaumont festival is the classic example, as was the short-lived Westonbirt festival. The good news is that it looks like the Westonbirt festival may be relaunched at a new venue in the near future, giving a chance to show some truly ‘cutting edge’ schemes.

Anyhow, it’s true that there are some common trends at Chelsea this year – we’ll wait to see how many of them filter down into the domestic market.

Lots of still water – much of it overflowing it’s container to create a smooth edge, and much of it using organic black dye to get that great reflective quality. Of course the downside for the domestic market is that open water may be an issue for clients with children, and the perfect flat surface doesn’t look quite so good when it’s covered with a slick of pollen or leaves.

Lots of green planting, using foliage texture and form to add interest rather than relying on colour. This is really not a new trick for planting design as more often than not the flower lasts a fraction of the time that the plant is in leaf, so if the foliage doesn’t work together then the flowers won’t save the scheme.

Green roofs are everywhere – and not just using the old favourites like Sedum’s. Green roof technology is becoming more mainstream and there are now several solutions available on the market, so they no longer require specialists to design and install (apart of course from a structural engineer to make sure the roof can take the load). They are generally low maintenance solutions and can be used for anything from a rabbit hutch to an office block – perhaps this is Chelsea reflecting the current mood rather than dictating it, but any higher profile for green roofs must be a good thing.

As well as the green roof, there is a lot of vertical planting in evidence this year. Unlike green roofs there aren’t yet (m)any commercially available systems to support vertical planting – this is quite a challenge as the system has to be strong enough to support a considerable weight, has to contain sufficient growing medium for the plants and then has to be able to deliver the required amount of water to all of the plants without leaving the ones at the top parched and the ones at the bottom drenched. Perhaps, despite all our misgivings at the top of this post, this shows how Chelsea can drive the market – if increased awareness of vertical planting leads to increased demand for a commercial solution then we may well see more and more of this technique rather than just resorting to the usual solution of planting climbers.