Client brief and drawing for design of back garden, Sheen, Richmond.

December, and to break the monotony of the winter clearances, we have won a contract to redesign the rear garden for a private house in Sheen, Richmond. The brief was to create a garden for entertainment from a space that has been left to overgrow for the last 3-4 years, which has bramble and overgrowth up to 6 feet tall. Once we cleared this, we found the ground to be very uneven and the top soil, although 18 inches to 2 foot deep in places was a mix of bramble and grass rootage. 

The client wanted a garden which was to be a spacious, relaxing area to be mostly lawn for their young daughter to play in, but also aesthetically pleasing enough to enjoy barbeques  and to entertain guests in. They wanted to make the most of the sunshine that hit the garden and this would incorporate two seating areas, the patio which would remain largely unchanged and a seating area up the back to catch the morning sun on the east facing back wall. It was also to have a raised bed, for herbs and vegetables to be grown in, by the kitchen window and curved borders and access to the summer house in the corner (which would eventually be replaced). The size of the garden is approximately 18 metres long by 12 metres wide and the budget was about £7000.

My design incorporates all these requirements and access to the fruit trees at the back of the garden has been left for picking the fruit in the autumn.

Rear garden after clearance

Design drawing

Plants to be planted today

Marked out border

Raised herb and vegetable bed

Planted borders

REFLECTIVE COMMENTS
It was important to come away from the client brief having fully understood the clients requirements and this was achieved in the first visit. On presentation of my final design the client was excited for us to get under way and create the garden so it had the entirety of spring to mature enough to show off their garden to their friends by the time summer comes around.
This was a good first experience of a client facing project that would involve me designing and drawing the final design for presentation to the client. The only downside was the very tight budget to which we had to work but the transformation of the garden is incredible.