...using the logic of ecology

garden designers and the role they play in sourcing good plants

Although many of us cannot afford the luxury of hiring a professional garden designer, those that can find that a garden designer can provide them with more than just a simple sketch of their garden to be.
It is clear to anyone who has visited a garden centre or flicked through plant encyclopaedia that the 400,000 or so different plant species on offer can be mind boggling, especially when one considers that these plants often have many more species, varieties and cultivars with equally confusing names. When the choice of cultivar name of any given plant species can mean the difference between a pastel blue border or a violent coral pink- the garden designer’s role becomes all the more valid and worthy of the extra investment.
A professional garden designer should know these plant species and cultivars well, as these are his daily bread and he will be able guide you through the myriad of plant species, cultivars and colours that make the difference when designing a garden. A garden designer will also have a good understanding of the market place and should be able to obtain the very best quality plants at the very best price. Plant sourcing is precisely this- finding the best plants for your money and this can make the difference between choosing, let’s say, a wisteria that flowers abundantly within the first few years of planting or a wisteria that may take 15 years or more to produce its first flower, if ever.
Certain Rose cultivars may be more resistant to disease than others and roses chosen from a good supplier can ensure years of vigorous growth/ flower production, as opposed to a plant that dies in its first season or is constantly afflicted by fungal disease. A garden designer can ‘source’ your garden plants and may even save you more money in the long run on dead and dying plants than you actually forked out for his or her professional service. A good garden designer should also be able to provide you with a concise maintenance schedule for each of the plants on the planting list that will ensure the good health of that plant, and subsequently the entire garden’s health, for many years to come.