Sarah Sinclair Garden Design
Sarah studied at Agricultural College and then co-directed a family tree surgery and landscaping business for 15 years for both commercial and domestic customers.
With her passion firmly on the landscaping side, years later she set up her garden design business 'Sarah Sinclair Garden Design' concentrating on private gardens, mainly in the county of Suffolk.
Sarah strives to find innovative yet practical solutions for her clients, she enjoys incorporating colour and texture as well as structure into her designs. Habitat creation, conservation and growing vegetables are personal passions which she shares with her two daughters, and clients alike.
Our philosophy
Imagination is the only limitation
Do you have have a clear idea of what you are looking to achieve? or do you need a bit of inspiration?
Whatever the starting point in terms of ideas and the garden itself, working together, step-by-step we will create a garden that suits your needs, sense of style, the surrounding environment and your gardening capabilities.
We will design a beautiful and functional space.
We believe you should treat your garden as a room, albeit an outside room. The inside should connect and flow with the outside, suit your lifestyle, have a journey and purpose, and perhaps have rooms or spaces within it.
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Garden design
Every garden, and every client is different. This makes our job exciting, and every garden design project different.
No matter the scale of the project; total garden overhaul, garden revamp and revival, or a simple planting plan for a new or existing border we can assist with garden design expertise to get the most out of your outdoor living space.
We can do as much or as little as you need, garden design and drawing of plans to supply, implementation and project management. We enjoy working with our clients with the creation of beautiful, functional outdoor spaces that enhance the experience of being in their gardens.
We offer a free initial consultation and look forward to discussing your garden and ideas. We focus on all year round plant interest, making it a usable space whether that is for entertaining, relaxing, children's trampolines and football and pets we will find an innovative solution for you.
Areas of specialism are encouraging wildlife and habitat creation, and integrating vegetable growing.
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The Garden Design Process
Working with our clients, on any scale of garden project, this is a typical process for garden design. This will give you an idea what will happen as we work through the project from one stage to the next.
1. Initial consultation & brief
We start every garden design project with visit to see your garden and meet you. We will discuss and agree what you want your garden to be and how you want to use it.
Don't worry if you are not sure we are experienced at asking the right questions about how you would like to use your garden, what you like and don't like, your garden expertise and available time and resources.
Pictures from magazines or books of gardens that you like are really helpful at this stage. This initial consultation normally takes one to two hours.
From this meeting we create an agreed 'client brief'
2. Site survey
An important part of the garden design process, gathering information which will help formulate the design.
We will make sure we have all the information we need taking pictures and measuring your garden.
Looking at its aspect, any changes of level, soil type and the position of fences and boundaries and any features, from structures to favourite plants, that you wish to keep.
We will also carefully consider any privacy issues which need to be screened or views from the garden which can be used to best effect in the overall design
3. Initial ideas & outline plans
With the information from the client brief and site survey we get to work producing some initial ideas. We meet to present and discuss some these, which are sketched plans and illustrations of your garden, example images and material palettes, all helping you visualise how your new garden will look.
It maybe that you like somethings from one design and some from another, from your feedback, we will be able to refine the sketches to produce an outline plan for the whole garden.
4. The master plan
This will form the blueprint for your new proposed garden.
It is a final drawing showing the agreed lay out derived from our discussions from the outline plans.
It is a scaled drawing that details all the necessary information which can be shared with landscapers so they know exactly how the garden is be created.
The master plan shows the layout of the soft and hard landscaping, plants, materials, existing features, structures and specifications.
5. Detailed design &
specification
Depending on the complexity of your project this could just be a detailed planting plan giving the names and positions of the plants in your new garden.
In a big build and planting project this could include construction specifications, planting plans, work schedules, project management plans and planning applications. There can be multiple professionals (construction, architects etc) involved so it is important that there is a step by step plan.
We can help make this as straight forward as possible.
6. Garden contractors & suppliers
We can be involved a much or as little as you like at this stage, can recommend professional landscape contractors to undertake the garden build.
We can help coordinate the quotation process on your behalf. Many clients find it useful for us to oversee the project, co-ordinating timings and making site visits to check on progress.
Alternatively, you are welcome to engage your own landscape contractor to build and plant the garden.
7. Plants
Plants, the exciting bit and what makes a garden.
You may want to source and plant your new garden yourself, equally we can supply all the plants specified in the planting plans.
We have established relationships with wholesale nurseries and suppliers so the plants will good quality and will cost less compared to a garden centre.
We can prepare the borders, making sure the soil is ready and suitable for planting, and carry out the planting making sure that the plants are laid out and planted as per the planting plans.
7. Aftercare and maintenance
Gardens are ever evolving spaces as the seasons change and plants grow and therefore require some maintenance.
At the end of the project we will detail require some key maintenance requirements which will help you keep your garden looking stunning.
We can arrange key maintenance visits for pruning and to keep an eye on it or attend your garden on a regular basis.
Normally after 2 to 3 years the plants will be well established and it may be worth us visiting to make sure there is no overcrowding and that every plant is earning it's spot in your garden!