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Thursday March 28 , 2024

Blue Daisy Blog

Blue Daisy blog written by Nicki Jackson & Jules Clark - for news, views, garden design, gardening and plant observations and thoughts.

Garden Design Quick Tip - Design for Structure

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structure1I thought I’d take a slightly different angle than my usual garden design topic and actually look at the garden design process itself in terms of structure since above all else having your garden designed adds structure to your project.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) the word structure has many meanings and all of them are valid in relation to garden design.

Firstly, structure is ‘the arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something complex’.  Make no mistake, your garden design is a complex undertaking requiring skills across a number of disciplines – even the ‘simplest’ looking garden design requires the designer to wear many hats ranging from land surveyer to plantsman; creative to structural engineer; sociologist to psychologist (yes, really!); soil scientist to environmentalist, visionary to pragmatist,  and more;  and sure, we can all have a go ourselves but we each have to weigh up the cost of hiring a professional garden designer against whether or not our own skills can produce results as well, or as efficiently, or as knowledgably, or as thoroughly, or as creatively, etc.  In the vast majority of cases the investment is well rewarded. 

 

Structure is also defined by the OED as being ‘the quality of being organised’ and being organised works on two levels in terms of garden design.  Firstly, the master plan itself shows the final goal in diagrammatical form, a blueprint if you will, that can be used in a number of different ways to suit your own circumstances. A garden design project isn’t always about design and build as one project you see; you could build it yourself perhaps, or phase the build process to suit budgets and circumstances but knowing the bigger picture – and being able to see it and hold it – before you begin to dig up the patio saves you from the dreaded piecemeal approach that so often results in a bit of a jumbled mess of a garden! 

The second level of organisation that a garden designer can bring to your project is that of project or logistics manager.  For the most part it will be your garden designer that organises or does the site survey, produces the plans and drawings, specifies the materials, invites landscapers to quote (or start the build if your designer is design and build).  When the build is done it is your garden designer that will then organise the plant deliveries, plant your newly designed borders, introduce you to your new plants and then stand side by side with you to take in and appreciate your new view!  That organisation role is often undervalued but for the majority of our clients it is the thing that made their garden project work for them and knowing that Nicki was at the end of the phone or email to answer their questions (and there are often many!) it gave them the ‘safety net’ they needed while their garden was in the transition (read ‘scary’!) stage.

The OED further defines structure as ‘a building or other object constructed from several parts’ and as we can all probably attest to, there are many ways to construct things! One of the benefits of working with a garden designer that doesn’t do build is the option for you to get a number of comparative quotes for the build part – often the most expensive part – of the process. The garden designer will provide you with a level playing field in terms of getting landscaper quotes for your project because your plan – that blueprint I mentioned earlier – can remain consistent throughout ensuring that quotes are all based on exactly the same information.  A professional garden designer will also deliver build specifications too so the interpretation of what you’re looking for from them in terms of elements, placement, materials and standards will remain consistent whomever you choose to build your project.

As a verb, according to the OED, structure is to ‘construct or arrange according to a plan; give a pattern or organisation to’ and to be honest we’d be hard pushed to come up with a better definition for a garden design either!  Whether you get a professional to do it or not, in order to get that beautiful garden of your dreams; start with structure.

And don't forget to contact us if you're interested in having some or all of your garden designed - Blue Daisy works hard to make your garden design project a fun and pleasurable process!

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