The Ultimate Guide to Working With A Garden Designer

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Most people who speak with a garden designer have one thing in common - and that is that they have never worked with a garden designer before. For these people there may be an element of stepping into the unknown when considering whether you should hire a garden designer or not.

The simple reason, as to whether you should work with a designer, is that a garden designer should offer a professional service to help you to get the very best out of your garden - and ensure your budget is spent wisely.

Indeed for some people it can be difficult to weigh up whether using a garden designer is a cost or investment - understanding your own answer to this will help you to find the right designer for you, but it will also help to define how you will budget for both the design and build of your garden.

It is true to say though that a new garden is almost invariably more expensive than people initially think - which is why expert advice can be so valuable to ensure your funds are spent wisely.

Making a selection

So how do you choose a garden designer? I believe that there are four stages to selecting the right person or studio - and I shall deal with these in the order in which these should be undertaken.

First of all, the best way to ascertain the abilities of your garden designer - to ensure they are appropriately qualified and accredited - is to check their industry association memberships. There are three main bodies in the UK who accredit garden designers for their skill and competence - and Haddon Studio are members of all three. These are:

1)  The Society of Garden Designers (SGD)

Accreditation is followed by the award of Registered Membership (with Registered Members appending the letters MSGD after their name - and also the opportunity for Registered Members to enrol their businesses as Registered Practices). SGD accreditation is equivalent to a Level 6 qualification with professional competencies (effectively degree level) which is why SGD Registered Membership is the ‘gold standard’ for garden designers - and why there are only just over 200 MSGDs in the UK. As the SGD says on their website “Members of the SGD have the vision, skills, training, experience and expertise to offer a complete design service, and by choosing to work with a Member, ensures that you and your garden are in safe and capable hands.”

2) The British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI)

Accreditation leads to the award of Accredited Designer (and the letters MBALI after an Accredited Designer’s name). BALI accreditation is very similar to that provided by the SGD and BALI also provides a fantastic resource of qualified and quality-assessed landscapers who can then build a designed garden.

3) The Association of Professional Landscapers (APL)

Accreditation leads to the award of Accredited Designer (the the letters MAPL after an Accredited Designer’s name). APL accreditation is slightly easier to achieve than the other two and, again, it provides a fantastic resource of qualified and quality-assessed landscapers who can build a designed garden.

Also to note would be membership of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture (CIHort) and Chartered Membership of the Landscape Institute (LI) - members of the Landscape Institute tend to have a commercial rather than residential skillset (landscapes rather than gardens - although that is by no means always the case) and chartered membership is deemed to be on a par with Registered Membership of the Society of Garden Designers.

Secondly, once you have checked accreditations, I would advise that you review references / reviews provided for the garden designer. Personally I believe these should ideally be on third party sites, as opposed posted directly to the designer’s website, (we curate ours using the third party amalgamation site Trustist - for openness and transparency). This will allow you to see how well others have worked with them in the past.

Thirdly, ensure that they have the correct insurances - in this case whether they have professional indemnity and public liability insurance (we have always had these at Haddon Studio and are available on request).

And last, but equally important, you need to make sure they are someone you can work closely with over a number of months to achieve your dream garden…of which more below in ‘A tour of your garden’.

Approaching budgeting

Before I explain the next phase in selecting a garden designer though I just wanted to quickly discuss budgeting because, as I mentioned above, a garden is almost always more expensive to create that people initially think.

Asking how much it will cost to change your garden is a little like asking how much it is to buy a car or a new kitchen - it all depends on what you want and can be undertaken for a range of budgets. Similarly to buying a kitchen though, having a garden that works when set in the context of your home can help decide on budgets as a shoe-string garden for an expensive house will always look as though it does not quite gel.

We have touched on the value added by a garden designer elsewhere (in our guide Garden Design: Cost or Investment) and so I wont repeat that again here. Additionally we have written separately about How much does a garden design cost as well as How to budget for a new garden.

It is important though to consider your budget and, as with any construction project, to be prepared for budget over-runs. A good designer though will help to estimate costs through the process of design and advise on likely cost ranges when your project goes to tender, as well as assisting with “value-engineering” if budgets change.

A tour of your garden

In order to decide whether or not to appoint a garden designer to work with, you need to meet with them first. This is invariable done alongside a tour of your garden.

This achieves two main goals.

First is so that the garden designer can listen to your ideas and wishes on site and assess for themselves how feasible your plans are, offer design ideas that you may not have considered, and assess how much the design work will cost.

Second is so that you can meet the designer, and they can meet you, and you can then both decide whether you would like to work together.

Almost all of my prospective clients accept that a garden designer will charge to visit you and provide you with advice. This shows both a commitment on your part, and demonstrates that you value the advice you will receive, and this also means that the designer should be happy to share their initial thoughts and ideas for transforming your garden. This visit should always be of value - and no-one should be charging simply to show you their portfolio.

Before the garden designer arrives though, it may be advisable to do a little preparatory work first. Our guide on What to prepare before talking to a garden designer gives some insight into this but essentially the more detail you can provide about what you like, and what you don’t, will make for a much more productive meeting. Don’t be surprised though if a designer challenges some of your initial ideas - this is their job, they are professional, and ultimately they want the best for you and your garden - and so this can be a really valuable exercise.

In particular a good designer will also be skilled in listening to when two people want two different things for their garden and will work with you to then find a compromise - based on what is possible on the actual garden site, your stated budget, and also working alongside the garden, the landscape, and your home.

Mistakes to avoid

I think I have covered these already but I think the two most important points here are to make sure you work with someone you like, and to make sure you work with someone who has the skills and professionalism to achieve what (at least most of) you would like to achieve (as we discussed above).

One final point though is around how to talk about your budget. We always ask for this - up front and at subsequent meetings - as we need to understand this to do the best job possible for you. At Haddon Studio we charge design fees based on time spent working on design (as opposed to a percentage of a project’s overall budget). If therefore our clients are not clear about their budget, or about having a fairly open budget up to a certain value, it just means that we can’t design the most creative solutions for your own situation. You would not hide your budget from the architect building your home and this is why there should always be open communication for the client - designer relationship to work most effectively - and this comes back to choosing a designer who you like (and who is trustworthy - based on their reviews and accreditations).

When to walk away

Finally, don’t be afraid to walk away. If you need more time to decide or further information that is fine (it just means your job will start later and then be completed later), but getting this right is more important than getting it wrong.

If you don’t feel you can work with someone before the design work starts I can’t think that it will be possible to resolve this later…and the same is true for the designer assessing whether to work with a client…although in our experience people who want their gardens designing are invariable amazing people.

Finally, to help our clients through the process of the design we charge for our three phases of design work separately - for concept ideas, a Masterplan, and for detailed design drawings - and we provide indicative estimates for the build at each of these stages. This means we work closely together on the design for your garden in a series of phases.