The Client Brief
A Garden Designer needs three things before starting the design:
1) A client brief,
2) A survey,
3) A site analysis
Without any one of these, a good garden design cannot be achieved.
The Three Steps of Information Gathering Required Before Designing a Garden
The following Blogs focus on these three steps of information gathering that are necessary before we even begin to design a garden, and what each step means. They will discuss how it benefits you - the client - and why you should invest in each before progressing on to having a garden designed.
The first in this series of Blogs is about the Client Brief and why it is so important.
What is a Client Brief?
A client brief is a culmination of information based on what you and the designer communicate at the initial consultation, and what the designer may notice while on site – these nuances may not be deemed important by the client, but they help guide the design process.
A garden designer will come armed with questions. This may be a written list, a document they fill in, or a mental list that they ask you, noting down your responses. You may have sketched out some ideas of your own, and these form part of the discussion.
Questions may include how you use the garden now, and how you wish to use the garden; what particular features you may want; what materials you like; any garden design inspiration you may have; your time expectations for design and build, and also your budget.
A client brief form, and sketches from a client.
How Do You Currently Use The Garden?
Discussing how you use the garden now provides us with important clues. These include where the sun hits the garden at specific times of day and when you access the garden. Efforts to grow veg, a football goal, meadow flowers provide us insights into your aspirations for your outside space.
How You Wish To Use The Garden?
This set of questions will investigate many aspects, for example, whether you are sociable party people wishing to entertain every weekend, or whether you are seeking solitary calm and escapism.
As you can imagine, each will result in a very different design – the first, a large open terrace for a sizeable table and maybe a BBQ or outdoor kitchen, with open lawns, wider paths, and various seating options for your friends and family.
A peaceful garden for calm and escapism will have more enclosed private spaces, wrapped in planting to provide a sense of solitude and calm. If you have the space then of course, you can have both!
Do you want to a garden with secluded areas to escape to, or a more open garden for entertainment?
How Does The Sun Move Around The Garden?
We probe you about how the sun moves across the site. This isn't as simple as N,S,E,W, as trees and buildings may have subtle impacts on sun and shade, and seasonal changes are also important to understand. We need to investigate where the first sun hits in the morning, and the last of the sun is at the end of the day so we can make decisions about how we can maximize your the enjoyment of the space. Again, it may be small, but a single bench sited in order to capture the very last on the evening sun in a part of the garden they never ever used completely secured me the client buy-in on one design.
Understanding light and shade in the garden is important for locating clients as well as locating plants
The Day-to-Day Nitty Gritty
Are bins stores needed? Is a new shed required? Questions go as far as detailing whether you want water butts and if you hang your washing outside. Organising the rotary line placement can be really very important to a client.
We also discuss what we call the 3 'Rs' - the features in the garden you wish to Remain, Relocate or Remove
What You Love And What The Issues Are In Your Garden
We chat about the current issues you have with your garden and what you love about it. This may be the atmosphere, the views, the open access to the neighbours. We wouldn’t wish to suggest removing a garden feature that you love! Unless we ask you the right questions, we may not find out that the rose was your grandmother’s, or that tree is used in the summer for your hammock. Thus this conversation is so important- and mustn’t be rushed.
Garden Style
We can tell a lot about your style by looking at your interior design. Are you contemporary, vintage, traditional, eclectic? Do key pieces in the home seem important, or is the large family dining space the heart of the home? We also ask you questions about this. We find a Pinterest board is really informative, and can often give us important clues that you yourselves may not have even realised.
Are you someone who hankers after a Country Garden, or maybe a more contemporary space?
The Scope Of Works
Are you wanting the whole garden redesigned, just a small area, is it just the front garden, or both front and rear gardens?
Your Expectations
The Client Brief also allows us to manage your expectations. You may have a wish-list that is greater than your budget; you may have time expectations that are two swift for a quality design service to be provided; it may be you haven’t considered something that we feel would bring you a huge amount of pleasure; something you have your heart on may just not be practical. Open, clear communication is key to ensure the process runs smoothly.
Managing expectations helps save disappointment - you won't achieve an instant Chelsea garden!
What Is Next?
The client brief is submitted to you, the client, to read through. This allows you the opportunity to ensure we have fully understood what it was you were hoping for in your garden, and to be confident we fully understand you as client's. It is essential you have confidence in us before we move forward on your project. A good garden designer should always submit an accurate brief because they have the experience in extracting the correct information. On occasion something may have been missed as it may have slipped your mind – and we always ensure we keep an open line of communication so we can add anything to the brief before we start the design process.
Once you are happy, the brief is signed off and we move on to commissioning the survey.
Coming Soon: The Survey - why it is important, what is required and how we use it.