Miles Garden Design - Full Garden Design

Fill in the questionnaire (either on-screen or after printing).
Measure your garden and draw a plan following the instructions at the end of this pack - use either the grid provided or some graph paper.
Send your questionnaire and plan, along with any photos you may have of your garden and a deposit of £50 to: Miles Garden Design, 7 Doman Road, Norwich, NR1 3AW.
Alternatively, you can scan your documents and email the attachment and any photos to jane@milesgardens.co.uk.

Timescale

Designs will usually be completed within 4 weeks but please allow up to 6 weeks in busy periods.

Fees

Payment

Please enclose a deposit of £50 when you return your completed questionnaire and plan. The remainder of the fee will be invoiced once we send you the final design. Please make cheques payable to Miles Garden Design.

Part One

DESIGN QUESTIONNAIRE:

Please provide as much detail as possible to help us achieve the best garden for you - you may wish to continue on a separate sheet of paper.

Personal details

Name:
(Dr , Mr , Mrs , Ms , Miss )

Post code:
Email address:

Use of garden
Number of children (with ages):
Pets that use garden:

Soil

Guidelines to help you determine your soil type:

Take a small amount of moist soil and rub it between your fingers and then answer the following questions.
If the answer is yes then your soil contains significant amounts of:

Is it gritty? Sand

Is it sticky and moulds into a ball? Clay

Slightly gritty, a little sticky and when moulded into a ball cracks easily? Light-Medium loam

Type of soil:
Sandy
Clay
Loam
Don't know
Other (please specify)

Soil pH:
Acid
Neutral
Alkaline
Don't know

Features you would like to retain

Please list all current features or plants that you would like to keep (ensure that you mark these on your plan).

Features required (please tick all that apply)

What do you wish to use the garden for? (please tick all that apply)

How often will you use the garden?

Style of garden preferred

Level of maintenance preferred

Low
Medium
High

Planting

Please list any plants that you particularly like. For example roses, bamboos, grasses etc.

Please list any particular plants that you dislike.

Please tick any colours that you particularly like and would like to appear in your planting.

Please tick any colours that you particularly dislike and would not like to appear in your planting.

Other information

Are there any Covenants or legal restrictions that affect your plot?

Give details of any eyesores that need screening (please mark these on your plan).

Do you / people who will use the garden have any special problems or specific needs? (e.g. any form of physical disability that should be taken into account).

Approximate age and type of house.

Please list any other information that you think would be useful to us.

Part Two

Guidelines for measuring your garden

Example garden plan

Tips and survey techniques:

You will need a long tape measure. If you can't get someone to hold the end of the measure for you, you can secure it to the ground with a skewer.

If possible, provide all measurements in metres. Please specify on your plan if you have used an alternative unit of measurement.

Sometimes, boundaries can be calculated simply by counting the fence panels and multiplying up the length of a fence panel and post.

The position of most features can be fixed by measuring at right angles from a boundary (we measured the position of the shed and the manhole cover by taking measurements from the privet hedge on the left and from the front of the house). For elements of the garden that cannot be located by this method, use the triangulation technique (we used this method to pinpoint the position of the tree in our example garden).

Triangulation:

Start by finding two fixed points from which to take your measurements - the corners of your house are ideal (marked B and C in our example garden). Measure the distance to the feature first from one corner and then from the other. Mark these distances on the plan, ensuring that you indicate from which corners the measurements were taken from.

Setting off:

This technique can be used to plot the position of curved structures such as paths and ponds.
Take a straight line as a baseline (such as the front of the house) and mark out another straight line at an angle of 90 degrees from the baseline (marked E in our example garden).
At appropriate intervals (e.g. every 1m) along the straight line, measure the distance to the curve and mark these on your plan.

Instructions:

1. Start by drawing a rough sketch of your garden on the graph paper provided and use this to record all your measurements. Leave space around the edge for your measurements.

2. Measure the side of the house that leads on to the garden by taking running measurements to the windows, doors, drains, outside taps, steps etc.. and note the measurements on your sketch.

3. Next, measure your garden's boundaries (hedges, fences, walls). Measure lines or offsets at 90 degrees from the house to the boundaries. If your garden is not square, you may need to record the position of a corner using the triangulation technique (we used a triangulation to pinpoint the position of corner D in our example garden).

4. Measure the height of all boundaries and mark on your plan. Specify the type of boundary (e.g. brick wall, privet hedge).

5. Plot any existing features that you wish to retain, using the triangulation technique if necessary.
When pinpointing the position of trees that you wish to keep, measure to the middle of the trunk.
Give an estimate of the spread of the canopy and of the height of the tree. Estimate the height by getting a friend to stand under the tree (an average person's height is 1.8 - 2 m so you can estimate how many times taller the tree is and calculate a height).
Plot the position of any trees in neighbouring gardens if they overhang your plot.

6. Measure and plot any changes in level. First mark the positions of the top and bottom of the level change and then note the type of slope on your plan (gentle, moderate, steep).

7. Mark any other useful information such as the position of manhole covers, any views that need screening or that you would like to take advantage of, and any areas of water logging or permanent shade.

8. Mark the direction of North accurately on the plan.

9. Ensure you have specified the unit of measurement you have used.

Scale (e.g. one square = 1 m)

Plan checklist - ensure you have marked:

· House and positions of windows, doors etc.
· Boundaries (please specify type, e.g. wall, fence, hedge)
· Position of all features that you wish to retain
· Direction of North
· Any areas of water logging / permanent shade etc.
· Views that you wish to take advantage of / screen
· Position and approx. gradient of any slopes
· Position and direction of any photographs taken
· Any other information that may be important

Photos

It would be helpful for you to enclose any photos you may have of your garden. Your photos will be returned to you when we send your finished design.

Please mark on the back of the photos which view of the garden the photo represents. Good views to take would be:

i: Towards the garden from the house.
ii: Views round the garden from the centre.
iii: Towards the house from the far corners of the garden