FAQs

By choosing us to design your garden, we cover and oversee the creation of your new garden from the beginning to the very end! The process begins with a consultation and full survey of your garden to discuss your every requirement. We then begin the design process during which our architects produce a floor plan and/or perspective view of your newly designed garden. This is presented to you along with a series of inspirational images and associated costs. After the presentation any amendments to your design will be made to make sure you are completely satisfied with the design, we then work with our in-house construction team to project manage the construction of your new garden, to our highest standards.

Each individual garden we design has been expertly tailored to cater to the exact requirements of our client. Therefore, the exact services we provide for each garden can differ. As a baseline for all designs, we include: 

• A full survey of the garden
• A meeting with you to discuss all of your requirements 
• A rendered (detailed, illustrative) perspective view of the new design, showing you how it will look in real life
• A floorplan or secondary rendered (detailed, illustrative) view of the whole garden, allowing you to see the entire garden from multiple perspectives 
• A set of estimates, including a set of core costs along with any potential upgrades of any materials/ features
• A set of inspirational images of particular materials/ features used in the design 
• Amendments to the final design to ensure your every requirement is fulfilled 
• Management of the project during construction (applies only when NHG is a contractor) 

Additionally, we can also provide these services if the design requires them:

• A planting plan for any borders, beds and pots
• A drainage plan, if required
• A lighting plan, if lights are to be installed in the garden

As our client, we seek every opportunity for you to have your say on your new garden. Once your design deposit is paid and you’re allocated within our design queue, our architects will meet with you to discuss your every requirement. During this meeting we like to discuss your practical needs as well as your aesthetic tastes and preferences. We also strongly encourage you to share any Pinterest boards/images of materials, spaces or other gardens you like. Shortly before the main design process begins, we will again, check in with you to confirm all of the information we have gathered and to see if you had any further thoughts. Our architects will then need a period of time to complete the design, this is normally a minimum of 2 weeks but can last over a month depending on your garden. During this time, we tend not to need any more contact with you. If there is anything they need to check, they will contact you. Once they have completed the design for your garden, we will then arrange to meet with you and discuss the design. Throughout in-depth discussions with you during/ after this presentation, we can then make any changes if necessary, so that you can be sure you are happy with the design.

Our design studio consists of a team of Landscape Architects. Each one of our architects are extremely talented, educated and has a wide range of experience and qualifications with different areas or garden design. By working collaboratively and combining each of our skill sets, we are able to design and create the best solution in every garden we design. Our architects are with you every step of the way. We are passionate about making each garden unique, individual and best suited to your requirements. As a studio, we aspire to always be at the cutting edge of contemporary garden design. By using new materials, ideas and techniques, we are always striving to make each of our gardens distinct, original and exciting.

Once the design is complete, we only produce technical drawings for our own construction teams to use. These drawings are completed shortly before and also during the build itself. The drawings we provide give a scale representation of how everything will look in your garden allowing you to see the shape and size of each of the spaces.

Designing gardens is not an exact science, hance why we can never give specific time periods for a design. There are also a number of factors which affect the design we produce, this can include: 

• The size of the garden
• The complexity of the design 
• The number of features in the garden
• The number of different levels in the garden 
• The quality of finish 
• The Budget 
• The number/size of hard surfaces

As a general rule, we like to allow for a minimum of 2-3 weeks for any project. However, this can be up to 2 months for more complex designs.

Simply if you want to get your garden finished quicker, then yes! By booking in for the construction in advance we allocate your construction slot in advance. In terms of money, the extra £1,200 you pay as part of the 2nd bundle will be deducted from your final construction invoice, so you will be spending this money either way.

The survey for your garden will be arranged by us at any time between you paying the design fee deposit and us starting your garden design. It generally takes makes more sense for us to wait a while before doing the survey as there is often a long wait between you paying the deposit and us starting the design. If we do the survey straight away, by the time we start the design our memory of your garden and our discussions with you aren’t as fresh!

During these wait times our office will be in contact each month to update you on your projects progress within the queue. We can’t be specific with exact dates as there are many factors which influence our time frames (material shortages, lockdowns ect), however we will let you know how many projects we need to complete before we can start on yours, we can also specify which quarter we expect to begin with the work.

If you are handy with a drill, crafty with concrete or you are a green fingered gardener, you may decide to make changes to your garden yourself. However, if you would still like some help with overall design, we can still help. In most circumstances, our Garden Design Workshop will be best suited to you. Get in contact with us today to discuss how we can help with some advice, drawings or planning.

As you would expect, the time it takes for a garden to be constructed varies dramatically. As a general rule, the very minimum time construction takes is a week, however, most gardens take at least 4 weeks to be fully constructed. For larger, more complex or higher quality gardens, the construction period can last several months. During this time, it’s generally best to make sure your garden in not used by yourself, children or animals as there are often significant safety hazards. We cannot monitor the hazards created during the construction process and so it’s best to avoid using your garden during this time! Also, immediately after your garden is complete, any fresh turf will need time to root sufficiently, this means no feet, paws or furniture!

Upon completion of your garden, we can guarantee all of the features we create for one year. For example, this includes any patios, decking areas, pergolas, water features, fences, walls or structures. Please note thar anything which we did not build cannot be guaranteed. Unless our third bundle package has been purchased, we also cannot guarantee any plants or lawns. Due to the fact that plants are living organisms, we need to provide on-going care to ensure they thrive. As part of our third bundle, we can provide this care as part of our 20 hours of fortnightly maintenance. Alternatively, if you already have a regular maintenance contract with us, we can also provide the guarantee for the plants.

The fee we charge for a garden design covers the cost of us creating the design only. If you wish for us to construct any design we create, we will charge for the construction too. The design and construction are two separate products and are charged accordingly.

The first step in creating your dream garden is complete! By looking through this guide, you now have a clear idea of how we can help. The next step is to organise for one of our architects to visit your garden and discuss all your requirements, just give us a call or drop an email to get the process underway!

There are a number of differences between a full garden design and a design workshop. Mainly, full garden designs are for any gardens where significant changes are being made and some creative solutions are needed. Design workshops are created for smaller projects where only some simple sketches or some advice is needed. The time involved in the two processes also differs significantly, a design consultation can be arranged, booked and completed within the space of a month. However, a full garden design is a longer process which is spread over the course of several months.

For any garden we design, the design fee is not free or refundable as this is a service which has to be paid for. However, if you wish to pre-book the construction of your garden in advance (£1,200) we will deduct this fee from the final invoice after the garden is built.