Designing gardens is a form of art that requires an enormous amount of foresight and patience.
When creating a new piece of garden art, a designer must take into account many different variables that will affect the end result. While a plant’s attributes such as size, shape, colour and texture form a large part of the artistic medium, other factors such as climate, garden aspect, soil and hardscaping all need to be considered during the design process. The fundamental success of a well-designed garden, however, comes down to whether or not it meets a client’s expectations.
“We ultimately create custom gardens for our clients, not our designers. This sometimes means ideas are often restrained in order to be kept in line with the reality of budgets and ongoing upkeep, which is all part of the design process.”
Getting the design right in small gardens can make or break them, says owner Martin from City Botanics.
“Unlike larger gardens, there is nowhere to hide when designing small-space gardens. They are often viewed in a single glance and if you don’t get the elements right, they are far less forgiving!”
And like all well-respected pieces of art, a true masterpiece takes time. “We start with a client consultation to discuss ideas, determine the functional elements of the space and agree on an overall style. We then spend up to six weeks working on the draft plan where we develop a series of mood boards to inspire our ideas and direction. Once the draft ideas are presented and agreed on, we then get to work finalising the plans. All this before a single plant touches the soil.”
So forget your living rooms walls! Turn to your balconies, decks and yards for a canvas that you can watch grow into your own unique piece of living art.
For further information, call Martin on M: 027 215 7884, www.citybotanics.co.nz