Working with your landscape designer: Top Tips

1 Get your landscape designer in as soon as possible. "So many times I get into a garden where the house is built and the ground is compacted or rubbish is buried under the lawn. And there are practical reasons too: access to gardens in towns and cities can be tricky, and it’s often easier and less messy to work on the garden before the house is finished. If you want a herb garden by the kitchen, for example, let your contractor know, so that sub soil isn’t dumped where you need the soil protected." Jack Wallington 2 Think about who'll be using the

garden "How many people will use it? How many seating areas will you need? Do you have children or pets (pets can be poisoned by certain plants; ponds and young children can be a safety issue). Will anyone with limited mobility be using the space? As such, easy access to level areas will be best." Jack Wallington 3 Do you need privacy or shade? Creating privacy is a popular request, particularly in urban areas, and here pleached trees and hedges can create a useful screen. For shading, consider a feature such as a pergola, awning or cantilevered umbrella. Catherine Macdonald 4 Start to put together a few images

Whether it’s Instagram, Pinterest or Google, put together some images that really show your landscape designer the style you are looking for. Jack Wallington 5 Consider how landscape design can

accentuate the architecture Do you want the planting or hard landscaping to enhance the entrance, perhaps, or to provide a visual focal point from within the house? Catherine Macdonald 6 If you can’t afford to implement your landscape design immediate

ly, at least consider the basics Keep the site as clean and tidy as possible, maybe retain some waste materials to form the sub-base for the hard landscaping. Also think about your services, such as where you want your external lighting to go. Catherine Macdonald

Catherine Macdonald is the lead landscape designer with Landform Consultants. Garden designer Jack Wallington writes a regular gardening column for The Daily Telegraph.