We will walk around your garden together to further discuss what you want to do with your garden and any specific problem areas.

I will take basic measurements to work out a rough area of your garden.

I aim to come away from meeting you with a comprehensive picture of what you want to achieve from the project.

You will learn about my garden design process and I will answer any questions you might have.

Allowing an hour and a half to do this will give us plenty of time.

Mileage, travel time and the time spent with you are included in the subsequent fee, if you decide to use my service.

I will email my first invoice for 50% of the garden design service fee. This must be paid in advance of me starting work on your project.

I will email my terms of engagement and a customer agreement form. The latter will be signed by you and myself, each of us keeping a signed copy for our records.

I will write a customer brief outlining background information about your household, house and an outline of what you want to achieve from a garden design including any issues that need to be addressed.

I will email the draft Customer Brief to you for amendment and subsequent agreement. This is an essential step to get right because this provides me with an accurate brief from which to work up a design.

I will conduct a full survey of the garden with the help of an assistant.

I will measure the dimensions, the levels of the garden as necessary, the location/size of any features to be kept and make detailed notes about the character of the garden/any issues identified.

The survey will enable me to create an accurate base plan of the garden, drawn to an appropriate scale.

Mileage, travel time and the cost of paying an assistant are included in the garden design service fee.

I will undertake research, as needed, to investigate aspects of the design, materials or structures for example

I will spend time exploring options and developing a design that meets the requirements of the customer brief.

The result will be a pencil sketch plan, drawn to an appropriate scale on tracing paper with basic color added to aid interpretation. I design and draw by hand.

The sketch plan will be like a bird’s eye view of the garden showing how the space is organized, all the proposed features and suggested materials.

Additional drawings may be necessary, including cross sections which are like a slice through the design or an axonometric drawing which is a kind of 3-dimensional drawing and useful where changes in levels are proposed

The sketch plan will include some general information on planting style or the feel of planted area.

I will regularly communicate with you during this process.

This visit will take place at your home. I allow one and a half hours to have plenty of time for a comprehensive discussion.

I will talk through the sketch plan and any associated drawings with you, going through all aspects of the design in detail, including proposed materials. I will note any changes which need to be made to fine tune the design.

We will usually get out into the garden with the sketch plan to visualize and measure out aspects of the plan to get a real sense of how the space would work.

Mileage and travel time are included in the garden design service fee.

Using your feedback, I will make amendments to the sketch plan, and produce a revised sketch plan.

I will communicate with you as needed during this process.

I will visit you again with the revised sketch plan for further discussion and feedback (fourth meeting). I have allowed for a one-hour meeting. This will enable me to finetune your garden design even further, including proposed materials.

Using your feedback, I will draw a final master plan as below the above section produce a final master plan.

Using your feedback, I will draw a final master plan and ink it up to enable good quality copies to be made. There might also be additional final drawings to prepare.

The master plan will continue to include some general information on planting style or feel for planted areas.

Communication with you will be on-going re progress and timescales.

I need to travel to Edinburgh to make copies of the master plan and any associated drawings.

I will colour one copy of the master plan and one copy of any associated drawings, an axonometric plan for example.

I will send you a second invoice for the remainder 50% of the agreed garden design service fee

Once paid you will receive copies of the master plan and any associated drawings as set out below, by mail.

You will be sent a total of 4x copies of the master plan i.e. 1x copy of the master plan with colour added and 3x plain copies without colour added. If there are additional drawings the customer will also receive 4x copies of these, if this includes an axonometric drawing 1x copy will be coloured.

I will also send you a basic specification for the hard landscaping (paths, patios, decking, planters etc.), soft landscaping (planted areas, grass lawn etc.) and main features. This will help you discuss the project with prospective landscapers and obtain comparable quotes before engaging one to do the work. This would also help you if you plan to do the work yourself.

I will also send a basic information note about selecting, buying and planting plants.

I will provide any relevant advice in relation to planning, building control, conservation areas, listed building status, tree preservation orders etc. or advice in relation to necessary technical input, for example a surveyor or an electrician.

The successful landscaper may suggest alternative materials or amendments to the design which you will need to discuss and agree with him/her. I may be able to offer limited advice via the telephone/email in relation to these discussions.

I may be able to offer limited advice via the telephone/email in relation to design related issues when the landscaper is on site although this will be minimal. It is inevitable that some amendments, hopefully minor, will need to be made when on site. I am not available to project manage the work on your behalf.

Any additional cost I deem to be above and beyond the scope of the inclusive garden design service agreed and the associated fee already paid will be discussed and agreed with you and invoiced separately.

I would love to visit you again once your garden has been completed to see how it has turned out, to get some feedback and take some photographs which I may use on my website, with your permission.