Celebrating 25 years in business

Why are we passionate about what we do?

We are celebrating 25 years in business this April and would like to thank all our lovely clients for their support. It’s been wonderful experience in many ways: we visit many interesting places that you may not get the chance to see and meet genuinely lovely people. 

It’s a delightful job to create beautiful gardens.  Many clients wait years to appoint a garden designer, so they are so excited and invested in the project which is infectious. It’s a great collaborative process working closely with the client and helping them realise their dream. 

I enjoy the design process for the problem solving and creativity, and seeing the delight when a client is excited about the design possibilities. I still get a thrill from the transformation, seeing the design being translated into real life. I love working with plants and look forward to going to the plant nursery to select plants. We plant the garden ourselves, so it’s very satisfying to handle plants during the planting stage and see the whole garden design process finally come together. 

Why clients may need garden design?

Clients often approach us feeling overwhelmed by their garden. They may have moved house and inherited a mature garden; moved to a new house with no garden at all, and don't know where to start or find that their own garden no longer meets their needs. Getting the garden redesigned can give a feeling of control and calm.

How does it feel to have been in business for 25 years?

Having built a reputation for excellence locally, winning Ilkley Business awards, it means we have a steady stream of work through referrals and repeat business.

We’ve been fortunate to be able to work in the field that we love, converting to being garden designers from a landscape architecture. Practically this has meant that we could work our business round the family when they were young with childcare and school holidays... though it was never easy! 

 What skills are needed?

Drive and determination. Stamina!

We are in a business with growing plants and outdoor construction,  so we have to be adaptable to the weather and consider the seasons in our planning.

Time management and multi-tasking. We run many projects at different stages, and you need to switch quickly between projects and tasks. ‘spinning many plates’.

Communication and people skills, this is key:  from explaining to clients about the garden design process, listening skills and sensitivity to understanding what the client would like: understanding that some clients struggle to visualise plans and envisage changes, keeping them informed and reassured throughout the whole process, liaising between the client and the contractor. 

Presentation skills and being able to communicate your ideas and ‘sell’ the design.

Business skills, marketing, financial and accounting skills are needed to run any efficient business.

Assertiveness and negotiation skills. Sometimes it is stressful for clients to cope with upheaval of their garden environment, so we are required to reassure and keep everyone informed and happy. As in any dealings with the public, we sometimes have difficult situations where we try to keep our head and remain calm.

Design skills. Often garden design is about problem solving. Sensitivity to the site, the client's tastes, a good eye.  In depth knowledge of hard landscape and building materials, plants, and horticulture, soils, ecology.

The planning process, legal aspects, British Standards.

Key Projects/ projects we feel particularly proud of.  

RHS Harlow Carr, Harrogate

We were delighted to be involved in Royal Horticultural Society Harlow Carr in Harrogate before Covid with master planning and detailed design of the central part of the garden working with Paul Cook the curator.  

Ilkley Riverside Park

A voluntary project that has been particularly rewarding is our local park project in Ilkley at the Riverside Park where we have designed and planted more sustainable planting using perennials rather than annual bedding. We have received such positive feedback from the public and were awarded an Ilkley Business Award 2023 for the project.

How am I going to celebrate my 25th business anniversary

Visiting gardens of course!! Ian and I have planned a trip to the South West to revisit gardens we saw when we were students at Sheffield University.