A nice case study describing a family friendly garden designed for one of our clients.

The team at My Garden Design are always mindful of our client’s need for discretion and so many of our case studies simply cannot be published. However, it’s always great when a landscaper gives us permission to share a project we’ve been working on.

This garden was designed on behalf of MCS Landscaping from the West Midlands.

About our client

MCS Landscaping is a well established company working in and around Solihull – a little to the South East of Birmingham.  James and his team offer a garden design and build service and work to very high standards.

The Company has an excellent downloadable brochure on their website, which I would urge you to take a look at. Not least, because James was one of the first landscapers to make the most of My Garden Design’s “Guide to Garden Design”.  The text and images have been incorporated into a truly comprehensive brochure that describes the company and its practices beautifully.

I’ll pop a link to James’s brochure and our design guide at the bottom of this case study.

The project brief

James was asked to landscape the garden of a moderately sized detached house in Rugby, Warwickshire.  It’s a somewhat irregular shape with a garage protruding into the space on one side and creating a dog-leg towards the end of the garden. There are a few drainage issues with the plot – nothing severe but the design and construction would need to consider 

The homeowners have young, energetic children and so they wanted a safe place for them to play. But also wanted somewhere to entertain friends and family, somewhere to relax and great views from the windows.

The design process

James took less than 2 hours to build a project profile on the My Garden Design website – with a little longer needed to complete and upload the site survey. 

James used the quick quote facility on the MGD website to obtain a quote for online garden design, based on the dimensions of the plot. He knew before his site visit, how much he intended to charge his client for the service.

To speed the design process, and save himself time, James used his smartphone to take photo’s during his site visit. He uploaded them directly to the project folder he had created on the MGD website. Then began an in-depth discussion about the design.

The client brief questionnaire on My Garden Design’s website helped to clarify the householders’ needs and their personal taste. James completed this online, whilst chatting to the clients so that nothing was missed.  With site images upload along with the survey results, the garden designers at My Garden Design started work immediately.

Within 3 weeks, James’ garden design was emailed to him. Pride of place was taken by MSC Landscape’s logo and contact details. In this instance, there were no revisions needed and so James could begin working on his quote for the landscaping works.

The family friendly garden design

Garden layout plan for family friendly garden. Designed by My Garden Design on behalf of MCS Landscaping

As you can see from the images, our designer has suggested a large paved area close to the house. With French doors from the living room as well as the kitchen door, opening out onto the space, it seemed logical to make indoor-outdoor living feel intuitive.  

Interestingly, all of the features that have been recommended for the children’s entertainment (sunken trampoline, raised artificial lawn) are in a direct line of sight from the kitchen window. This makes supervised play a lot more convenient for the parents.

Moving away from the house and the patio, the level of the garden is raised to accommodate the natural slope.  A retaining wall made with sleepers doubles up as additional seating. Recessed steps lead to a natural lawn with generous planting on two sides.

Across the lawn, the level is raised again. This time to a timber deck swathed in scented jasmine for a more intimate and relaxed seating area. Adjacent to the deck is more planting along the fence line and then an area dedicated specifically to children’s play.  Our designer has suggested artificial grass for this area – it doesn’t go yellow if toys are left out overnight!

A specimen tree provides shade for the play area and helps to improve privacy. Along the boundary line, climbing plants hide the fence and create a feeling of enclosure.

Do you need a garden design for your next project?

The My Garden Design website hosts a wealth of resources to help you sell garden design to your landscaping clients. Use these links to explore the site to discover …….

How, as a landscaper,  you can make money from garden design

What online garden design costs

How easy it is to add a garden design service to your website 

How to upload a project brief and commission a garden design

Useful documents

MSC Landscapes Brochure – worth a look to inspire your own marketing

Guide to Garden Design – text and images for you to use in your own marketing materials.