Common Garden Design Mistakes
We asked landscapers to list some of the most common garden design mistakes they encounter. Here’s what they said.
As a landscaper myself, I’m only too aware of how garden design mistakes can impact not only the client’s enjoyment of their garden but also the overall build cost. If I’m honest, dealing with design mistakes was what inspired me to start an in-house garden design studio for Holland Landscapes. Tapestry Design Studios work closely with my team to eradicate mistakes before the client’s get to know about them. And that’s also become part of the quality control process for My Garden Design. However, I’ve digressed.
We’ve all been asked to build gardens that are not to our own taste. That’s not what I mean by garden design mistakes. If the client wants a garden with no plants or they choose to wrap a contemporary garden around a picture perfect thatched cottage, that’s their prerogative and the designer can only work with the brief they are given.
No, what I mean by garden design mistakes is things like specifying materials that are simply not suitable for the clients needs, placing balcony balustrades where they prevent doors from opening, ignoring the contours of the garden or planting tall trees beneath overhead wires.
So many garden design mistakes lead to complaints against the landscaper building the garden. Which is, to quote my 5 year old daughter, “not fair!”.
Last week I ran a quick social media poll to see which garden design mistakes some of my fellow landscaping professionals have dealt with during their careers. I thought you might be interested in their comments.
Design Mistake No 1 Terms, Conditions and Legislation
Alan Sargent is well known within the landscape industry and has been involved with designing, building and maintaining some of the most prestigious gardens in the country. These days, he works as a garden consultant and expert witness.
In Alan’s opinion, one of the most common garden design mistakes is not about the design or the landscaping or even the client’s taste, it’s about record keeping.
Overlooking written contracts, terms and conditions and responsibilities under CDM (2015) regulations is a mistake that has left many a garden designer in hot water. Paperwork may be a bore, but it’s there to protect everyone in the garden design and build process.
FYI, when outsourcing design to My Garden Design, the landscaper retains all responsibilities for compliance with CDM (2015) Regulations.
Design Mistake No 2 Specifying Materials
Another of Alan Sargent’s least excusable of all the common garden design mistakes is specifying materials based on aesthetics alone. Common sense dictates that landscaping materials must be fit for purpose and matched to the site requirements. For example, a surface may look incredible, but if it easily becomes slippery when wet, it’s not a good choice for a pool surround or for steps.
Design Mistake No 3. Not Fully Understanding Landscaping Techniques
Not for one minute would I suggest that garden designers and landscapers should be interchangeable. Some are, and I take my hat off to them, but for the most part the skills sets are so different that neither should be expected to do the others job. However, each should have an understanding of what’s involved.
Landscapers should understand that garden design involves bringing together several sources of information, interpreting the client brief and experimenting with ideas until the right solution is found. It’s a time consuming process and cannot be done overnight.
Garden designers need to know what’s involved in building a garden. Access needs to be considered before specifying groundworks and materials. Are there likely to be extra charges for lifting machinery and materials over a fence? Will equipment need to be carried through the client’s house? When designing to a budget, these things matter.
Alan Sargent has worded this beautifully. “Not appreciating the skills involved in working with complex and complicated materials then trusting in landscapers to overcome all of the inherent problems of bringing the design to life.”
Katie Moyes from Tapestry Design Studios (R) visiting a landscaping site where one of her designs is being brought to life.
Katie is an experienced designer who is always keen to expand her already considerable knowledge of landscaping techniques.
Design Mistake No 4: Not Designing To The Client’s Budget
One ex landscaper commented on Facebook that he gets annoyed by designers who are unable or unwilling to design to the budgets discussed with the client.
Why is this a mistake? Well, it frustrates the client and makes the landscaper look greedy. It’s not great PR for our industry. Imagine being presented with a must-have design for your garden which the designer estimates will cost £16K to build. When in actual fact, the landscaper’s quote comes to over twice that amount. How would you feel?
From the landscaper’s point of view, it’s either a lot of time to suggest design tweaks or they lose the work to somebody who costs less but does a poor job of it.
Design Mistake No 5: Planting in Isolation from the overall design
This may be a matter of aesthetics but it’s a valid point from John Lucas. Layout plans and planting plans should be cohesive – even if they are both from different creators. Planting needs to accentuate and compliment the design, not detract from it.
Design Mistake No 6: Planting Niggles
Some valid points here from Will Bodsworth of Hedging Plants Direct. Thank you Will for your Input.
- Specifying plants that are inherently problematic ie Ligrustrum japonicicum near the coast or for windy site.
- Specifying plants that are not commonly available. Yes, it might be £1.99 online but growers won’t ship 10 x P9 Lavender from Southern Spain just because you think the blue is better than normal hidcote.
- Not taking haunching into consideration when it comes to spacing in small beds or near driveways. It might say there is a hedge to install in that 600mm wide bed but once you remove the soil that bed is only 200mm wide and the 6ft high Laurel you specified won’t fit.
- Supplying a plan with the plant plan as part of the design and not including an excel spreadsheet. So we have to double handle all the text which takes an endless amount of time.
- Hiding information about the plants. A few designers I dread working with hide the real info so to prevent others from pricing the garden. Eg They will list 4 x Yew globes. Not 4 X Yew globes, container grown, 50cm in diameter. This prevents landscapers from giving a like for like quote.
Claire Vokins adds to the list:
- Not planning maintenance space.
- Lack of horticultural knowledge leading to plants/trees being too big in a couple of years and disrupting other plants.
At My Garden Design, we only hire experienced garden designers who can be trusted to take a sensible approach to projects. Each design is also carefully checked by MD Paul Baker to ensure that the garden can be built without complications.
Which garden design mistakes do you see most often? How do they disrupt your landscaping projects?
