Plan Your Garden

If you’re looking for ideas for your garden or are interested in reading about our garden design topics, you will find them all here. Use the drop down menu for specific design topics or simply browse or use the search box in the bar above. Enjoy!

 

Alison

Plant Focus: Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’

Plants, Plan Your Garden

Following on from last month's look at Euonymus alatus, this month I want to share another of my favourites with… Read more.

John

Inspiration – Raised Beds

Plan Your Garden, Garden Structures

Are you fed up with back breaking days in the garden? Here's a thought - why not make life easier… Read more.

Alison

Plant Focus: Euonymus alatus

Plants, Plan Your Garden

Every garden designer has his or her favourite/most-used plants, and I'm no different.  But rather than sharing a long list… Read more.

Alison

How To Cope With Shallow Soils Over Chalk

Plan Your Garden, Design Challenges

When we refer to chalky soil, we mean soil which has a layer of chalk below it.  Chalky soils tend… Read more.

Alison

How to Cope with Wide Shallow Gardens

Plan Your Garden, Design Challenges

If you have a wide and shallow garden it can appear to lack space and distance. But with some design… Read more.

Alison

Is It Safe To Plant In The Winter Months?

Plants, Plan Your Garden

Some clients get very concerned if we inform them that we are planning to undertake some of the planting in… Read more.

Alison

How to cope with… a sloping garden

Plan Your Garden, Steps & Slopes

Sloping gardens. They're challenging for home owners and garden designers alike. In this in-depth piece, we take a look at:The… Read more.

Alison

How To Attract Insects To Your Garden

Wildlife, Plan Your Garden

This blog was almost called “How To Attract Beneficial Insects To Your Garden”, but when we started to think about… Read more.

Alison

How to cope with… hot, dry areas of the garden

Plan Your Garden, Design Challenges

Hot, dry areas of the garden can be quite a challenge for the gardener, particularly if the soil is very… Read more.

Alison

No more garden flooding! Drainage case study update

ALDA in Action, Drainage

Back in January, we blogged about garden drainage and specifically mentioned two projects where drainage was a key 'challenge' (and… Read more.

Alison

How to cope with… a long narrow garden

Plan Your Garden, Design Challenges

Long, narrow gardens have several drawbacks, particularly if they are very narrow: the patio can seem very cramped for space… Read more.

Alison

How To Cope With Rooty, Shady Areas Under Trees & Large Conifers

Plan Your Garden, Design Challenges

Let’s face it, there is shade, and there is gloom.  It's all very well people suggesting long lists of shade… Read more.

Alison

How do I deter cats from my garden?

Wildlife, Plan Your Garden

One of the questions I am most frequently asked by clients and prospective clients is this: "Do you know any… Read more.

Alison

How To Cope With Heavy Clay Soil

Plan Your Garden, Design Challenges

Anyone who has a garden with heavy clay soil will know about the difficulties of gardening on it.  The soil… Read more.

Alison

Designing Front Gardens & Driveways

Plan Your Garden, Design Challenges

The design of driveways and front gardens poses a somewhat different set of challenges to those faced when creating a… Read more.

Alison

Garden Lighting – A Few Pointers

Plan Your Garden, Lighting

Lighting adds a completely new dimension to gardens.  Particularly in the often somewhat cloudy climes of England, a well thought… Read more.

Alison

Top Plants for Autumn Colour

Plants, Plan Your Garden

Although the warm sunshine will soon be slowly fading, Autumn is definitely not a time of doom and gloom –… Read more.

Alison

Disguising Sheds, Wheelie Bins, Trampolines and More – Some Ideas

Plan Your Garden, Design Challenges

A good garden design should not only be beautiful, it should also be practical.  And practical inevitably means disguising those… Read more.

Alison

Lawns – Real Grass v. Artificial Turf

Lawns, Plan Your Garden

Faced with the prospect of another season of lawn cutting, feeding, edging and other maintenance, you may be feeling that… Read more.

Alison

Patio Photos

Plan Your Garden, Patios

As a supplement to our patio design guide, this collection of patio photos showcases a selection of the patios we… Read more.

Alison

Bespoke Timber Garden Buildings, Structures and Furniture

Plan Your Garden, Garden Structures

Update: Please see our dedicated bespoke timber structures page here. When it comes to designing a garden, often there’s more… Read more.

Like what you see?

From planning a new border to a complete garden remodel, we pride ourselves on transforming ideas into beautiful reality, with minimum disruption. If you’re based in or around the Reading and Newbury area, we’d love to meet and discuss your project in detail – book your free no-obligation garden consultation today. We do get pretty booked up, particularly during the Spring, so plan ahead if possible!