Plant set out & garden design

How important is the plant set out in the overall landscape design?

The setting out of the plants is a very important part of the overall garden design and construction process. If we are now at the planting stage we should have a great landscape plan to work from that everyone is excited about. All the important details such as plant spacing, quantities, and sizes have all been documented. The plants should now have been sourced reputable growers and are vigorous and healthy. In reality, executing this requires more choices, further thought and care. Unfortunately, the best results are not achieved by simply plonking everything together at the end.

All plants are subject to seasonal availability and depending on the time of year and demands within the industry some varieties may not be available. So it is important to substitute with something appropriate, in line with the original vision and the garden design you have paid for.
As the garden designer, we need to balance specifying plants that are readily available from our suppliers. As well as trying to use more interesting, less common plant varieties. Which, in the long run, will make for a much more interesting and unique garden.

Once quality plant stock has been sourced and the garden is ready for planting the plant stock arrives on site. We would usually spend one or two days at this stage setting out the plants on site with the landscape team for planting, depending on the size. At this stage you can account for any changes which needed to happen along the way. There are often changes in a plant set out this stage to make sure the garden looks right in reality as well as on paper. No matter what the style of planting intended we need to ensure it is set out and planted for sustainable long-term growth.