From Idea to Idyllic - the 'garden' path of enlightenment We all have a notion as to what a garden should be. A garden should be as individual as you. Inspiration for most people though, comes from all the usual outside influences. Whether it's from the TV, magazines, or simply in a friend’s garden, we can’t help absorbing ideas from others and imagining what they would look like in our own space. But transferring ideas to your own garden can sometimes be quite daunting. The ‘trick’ of bringing all the right elements together, of getting the hard-landscaping, planting, colours and style of everything that is needed to make a coherent design, looks effortless in the right hands. But to many people, from those of us who may have a clear idea of taste and style, but don’t have the knowledge needed to transfer them to the garden, as well as those of us who have absolutely no idea where to start, but would like to have either a design put down on paper or to have a project carried through to the very last detail, it is then that the skills of a specialist Garden Designer can be employed. | Premier Award Winning Garden Harrogate Spring Flower Show 2006 
| Garden Show Ireland 2008 Best in Show 
Photo: Bunny Parsons | A Good Relationship A good designer will form a partnership with the client and be able to listen and understand just what is required. Their job is not to dominate and control, but to listen, to see and interpret an idea and then use their vast base of knowledge and experience to create the perfect design to fit space, lifestyle and budget. A good designer will also have many contacts for supplying a huge range of resources and products, from structures, paving & plants to garden furniture & fountains. They will also help you decide how best to blend all these elements together, to make the garden 'work' just the way you want it to. |
Resource Information | Mary Newstead - 'as a garden designer I persuade my clients not to go for the obvious greens and neutrals and to use their furniture as a highlight rather than a lowlight. In the winter, garden greens and neutrals don't add anything, whereas with brighter colours they add colour to an otherwise flowerless garden during our dull winter months'. Follow Mary Newstead's garden design blog for more information and up to the minute news.
Zinnia Mulford Garden Design - Zinnia has been designing gardens for seven years. Following an arts degree from Edinburgh University, she studied garden design at Merrist Wood college, as well as working part-time in a plant nursery. It was during this time that she developed a strong understanding of plants, which is integral to her design. Based in London, she works on both country and city gardens. www.zinniamulford.com
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