Looking for a garden designer?

When considering designing your garden, the best place to start is by contacting the Society of Garden Designers (SGD), which can put you in touch with the leading designers working in your area.

The SGD will have a stand at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year where members will be on hand to provide expert advice on choosing a garden designer for your own project, be it the transformation of a small urban space or a large country garden. SGD will have stands at this year’s RHS Flower Shows at Hampton Court and Tatton Park as well.

The proof of SGD members’ expertise can be witnessed each year as they join the leading garden designers in the world at the Chelsea Flower Show. At last year’s Chelsea alone, SGD members won 14 medals including the Best in Show award. An impressive 11 medals were also awarded to SGD members at last year’s RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.

Anyone can call themselves a garden designer and the proliferation of garden design courses now offered means that the standard can vary a great deal. The need for a professional body is now more important than it has ever been. The Society of Garden Designers was established in 1981 and is the only professional body in the UK dedicated solely to garden design.

What can you expect from an SGD garden designer?
All Registered Members have proven experience and have passed the SGD’s thorough accreditation and appraisal process. They can provide a professional design service which covers a wide range of skills beyond most clients’ expectations. The complete Garden Design portfolio covers:

• All aspects of Hard landscaping including structure and drainage
• Planting design and sourcing
• Maintenance
• Costing
• Project Management
• Specialist elements including water, lighting and garden furniture
• Members may have additional specialist skills e.g. expertise on historic garden restoration

Today’s designer needs to draw on skills that include a sound horticultural knowledge, an understanding of ecology and conservation, the ability to analyse the garden and most of all to interpret effectively the hopes and wishes of the client.

The SGD website makes the search for a garden designer simple, a comprehensive search facility locates designers throughout the UK and Northern Ireland and provides information on individual Registered Members’ areas of specialisation. Visit Sgd.org.uk for further information.

SGD’s membership includes the leaders in the garden design world such as John Brookes, Sarah Eberle, Christopher Bradley-Hole, Arabella Lennox-Boyd, Dan Pearson, Julie Toll, Andy Sturgeon and Cleve West.