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Design Ideas – Taking the Rough with the Smooth

Written by Duncan Heather on .

Rough grass is an immensely useful tool for the garden designer. How is it defined? It is simply grass that has been allowed to grow taller than adjacent smooth lawn grass, or that may already exist as paddock or naturally occurring grass in a virgin plot. Cut a few centimetres above a tightly mown [...]

Design Inspiration -Renewing the bond with nature

Written by Duncan Heather on .

Almost every day I walk (or rather run) my dog Oliver in the grassy dunes backing a small, unspoilt white sand beach called Shanawalla. This pristine little wilderness of about five acres changes quite dramatically through the seasons. In winter, after weeks of relentless rain, natural lakes of rainwater [...]

The Influence of Fashion

Written by Duncan Heather on .

With Chelsea Flower Show in full swing this week, garden design and plants are every bit as subject to fashion trends as clothing, art, furniture, names or architecture. Fashion is ephemeral by nature, often reinventing a past trend and introducing a modern twist, but not usually creating a look that [...]

How A Garden Can Add Value To Your Home

Written by Duncan Heather on .

10 tips on how a garden can add value to you property. Gardens have become a lot more than places to grow plants and vegetables. They have become spaces for rest and relaxation; an oasis or retreat from the pleasures or everyday life. They now act as an extension to the living environment of our homes, [...]

Inspiring Your Clients To Win More Work

Written by Duncan Heather on .

During your initial paid, on-site consultation of around two hours you will have taken a careful tour of the garden, noting your (possibly unspoken) observations of positive and negative features and including as many site details as possible. You will have asked questions and taken photographs. You [...]

Discovering Gold

Written by Duncan Heather on .

Understanding The Golden Section in Landscape DesignWhether or not you are good at, or interested in mathematics doesn't matter here. Read on. The golden ratio is a fascinating and immensely useful little bit of insider knowledge for designers creating garden plans and is also surprisingly straightforward [...]

Clients: First Contact

Written by Duncan Heather on .

How To Deal With Garden Design Clients.Working with clients is of course a very personal thing and everyone will have different ways of approaching that all-important initial visit. However, these are some guidelines that I always try to follow and some observations that I have found endlessly useful. The [...]

Nature As Inspiration in Garden Design

Written by Duncan Heather on .

Designing with nature requires the designer to develop heightened awareness, not just of suitable plants for a specific location, but of climate, prevailing wind direction, exposure, aspect, gradient, soil type, indigenous vegetation, geology, threats from animals domestic and wild and the site’s general ambience and atmosphere. [...]

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Designing For Wildlife

Written by Duncan Heather on .

Creating a Balance of Horticulture and EcologyThe enemies of wild life gardens are mainly domestic: cats, dogs and  indifferent humans who may have no interest in preserving a balanced eco-system. However wildlife gardens have enormous educational value for adults and children as long as nature is [...]

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What Is A Garden?

Written by Duncan Heather on .

The Garden Defined This question is so fundamental to learning about design that it is worth looking at the instant image in your mind's eye of a garden.   I believe that on this design learning curve you will shed many of  your pre-conceptions and open your mind and your eyes to a myriad of new [...]

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