GARDEN DESIGN • LONDON
Process
Good gardens are not designed in one sitting. They are drawn, tested, costed and adjusted — and then built by people who know what they are looking at.
What follows is how I work on a full garden design. Every project moves through the same four stages, whether it is a front garden in Ealing or a country garden in Surrey. Each stage ends with something real: a drawing, a plan, a set of quotes to compare. You decide whether to carry on before the next one starts.
I work on one project at a time at each stage, so the person you meet at the first visit is the person who draws the plans and sets out the planting on site.
HOW I WORK
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02
03
04
Brief & Site analysis
We begin by understanding how you live, what you want from the garden and what is possible within the space. I analyse the site, its architecture, surroundings and practical constraints to establish a clear brief for the design.
Concept
This stage starts with a written brief we agree between us, and a measured survey so the drawings sit on real levels rather than assumptions. I then work up an outline design and present it to you in person — because a plan is much easier to understand when someone is talking you through it.
One round of amendments is included, and expected. Very few designs survive the first conversation unchanged, and they are better for it.
Detailed design
The stage that decides whether a garden is built well or approximately. Construction drawings, setting-out, levels, drainage and material specifications — detailed enough that three landscapers pricing the same job are pricing the same job.
Planting is drawn properly too: plans, schedules with species, sizes and quantities, and setting-out drawings so nothing is placed by guesswork on the day.
Build & planting
I send the tender pack to two or three landscapers I trust, and we compare the quotes together — line by line, so you can see what the differences actually are rather than only the total.
During the build I visit site regularly. I tag trees at the nursery in person, and I set out the planting myself before anything goes in the ground. At the end you get a maintenance guide written for your garden, not a generic one.
YOU COME AWAY WITH
A clear view of what the garden could become
Initial thoughts on layout and planting
A written proposal and fee for the design work
The consultation fee credited against the design if you go ahead
YOU COME AWAY WITH
An agreed written brief
Topographical survey and site analysis
Design statement and illustrated plan
Perspective sketches and precedent images
Material and planting references
YOU COME AWAY WITH
Masterplan and construction drawings
Levels, drainage and services coordination
Material selections and specifications
Planting plans and full plant schedule
A tender pack a contractor can price accurately
YOU COME AWAY WITH
Two or three comparable quotes, reviewed with you
Contract administration and regular site inspections
Trees selected and tagged at the nursery
Planting set out by hand before it goes in
A maintenance and aftercare guide
WORTH KNOWING
Smaller projects
Not everything needs four stages. Roof terraces, balconies and single borders usually run as one phase in two parts — design, then implementation — with materials charged at cost.
Remote work
I take on remote consultations and smaller design work outside London, and have worked with clients in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany.
Fees
Fees are quoted per project once I have seen the garden and we have agreed the scope. Each stage is priced separately, so you are never committing to the whole thing at once.
GET IN TOUCH
Start a conversation
Every project begins with a conversation about your garden and how you would like to use it.
INFO@MARIAKRICHALLO.COM +44(0)7840 787344