Garden design: from brief to buildable plan

Most designers work in stages. First a site survey: boundaries, levels, existing trees, drains, services, aspect and soil. Then a concept, often two or three options sketched on the survey. Once you choose, the designer develops a masterplan to scale, followed by construction details and a planting plan.

The construction drawings are what make a design buildable. They show levels and falls, wall and step details, paving patterns, edging, drainage and lighting positions. The planting plan lists every plant by botanical name, size and number, and where each goes. Without these, a landscaper has to guess, and guesses get priced as risk.

• measured survey with levels and existing features
• concept options and a scaled masterplan
• construction details for walls, steps, paving and edges
• drainage, lighting and irrigation layout where relevant
• planting plan and plant schedule with sizes and quantities
• a specification or schedule of works that contractors can price
• site visits during the build, if you want them

The designer's first question is how you use the garden. Dining outside, children's play, growing vegetables, a dog, privacy from a neighbour's window, a place for bins and bikes, low maintenance: each changes the layout. Be honest about how much time you will spend looking after plants, because a planting scheme that needs weekly care in a garden that gets a monthly tidy will not last.

Note where the sun is at the times you use the garden, where water collects after rain and which views you want to hide or keep. Photographs of gardens you like help, and so do photographs of what you dislike. Give the designer a realistic budget for the build, not only for the design. A good designer designs to it.

Designs often include decking or a garden building, and both have planning limits. In England, decking or another raised platform is permitted development if it is no more than 30cm above the ground, is not forward of the front wall of the house, and together with extensions and outbuildings does not cover more than half the garden. Decking within the grounds of a listed building is not permitted development.

A garden room, studio or shed counts as an outbuilding. It is permitted development in England if it is single storey, not forward of the front wall, and within height limits; within two metres of a boundary the maximum height is 2.5 metres. It must be used for purposes incidental to the house, not as a separate home. Conservation areas, National Parks and other designated land have tighter rules, and new estates sometimes have permitted development rights removed. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules. A designer should check before drawing, and ask the council when in doubt.

Source: planningportal.co.uk

Independent garden designers work for you and then help you find a contractor. Some are members of the Society of Garden and Landscape Designers, formerly the Society of Garden Designers, which lists its members; the British Association of Landscape Industries has designer members as well. Landscape architects are chartered professionals who more often work on larger or public projects, but some take on complex private gardens.

Design-and-build landscapers include the design in their construction price. It is simpler, but the drawings may be less detailed and are tied to that firm. If you might have the design built by someone else, agree in writing that you may use the drawings for that; designers usually keep copyright in their work.

Fees are usually a fixed price per stage, a day rate, or for large projects a percentage of the build cost. Ask what each stage produces and how many revisions are included. Planting plans and construction details are sometimes priced separately from the masterplan; a design without them is cheaper but leaves more to the builder's judgement. Site visits during construction are usually extra and are worth it for complicated levels or planting.

Tell us about the garden, what you want to achieve and whether you need design only or design and build. We check your phone number and email and then show the request without your name to designers and landscapers in your area. Exactly one of them can buy it. That business pays Offrano, you do not, and we email you its name, address and phone number before your details reach it. We do not assess design skill, so ask to see finished gardens and drawings from past projects.