We want to show you how we make it easy for you to have the garden you’ve always wanted and what it’s like to work with Rock & Water…
We meet with you to get to know a little more about your likes and dislikes, it’s our job to interpret them and turn them into a design that is imaginative but achievable and realistic for your budget. Our in-house designers are fully qualified and experienced with all the inspiration and expertise to transform your garden, whatever the size or shape.
We will collect detailed information about your existing garden, such as; views, aspect, direction of wind and condition of existing plants. Changes of level will be calculated by laser equipment. This information will assist in the design of your garden.
We will take photographs and measure the garden so we can draw up a scale plan (1:110). Any plans that you may have of your house or site are also useful to us to aid in the drawing up of the plans. Each design is created for your location and the needs of you and your family and it will be unique. It will be carefully hand drawn to scale (1:100) by our designers, not by computer. The concept plan will be supported by coloured 3D sketches and pictures which will make it easier for us to explain our ideas and will give you a realistic impression of the design.
We will share the concept with you at the meeting. Very rarely do we need to change the concept, for having listened carefully, we aim to interpret your needs clearly and produce a design that matches your aspirations. Occasionally though, we may find that small details of the plan need to be changed and this is easily done at this meeting. At this stage we may also show you samples of hard landscaping materials.
When you are happy with the concept, the next stage is to create the master plan. This is the production of the detailed final plans which are used to calculate the cost of building the garden and which are needed on site by the landscaping and horticultural teams to construct your new garden. The master plan will have proposed level changes, detailed paving patterns, names of specimen shrubs and greater details about planting.
If you want your project to be built in stages, you may decide to have a master plan drawn up for the first stage of build only. A planting plan is not always essential. We can use our considerable experience to interpret your colour preferences and seasonal needs and can plant from a ‘planting concept’ and plant list.
These working drawings accompany the master plan. The location, name and quantity of each plant are shown so that the landscape team can place each plant exactly where the designer intended.
Afterwards, you will be able to use your copy to find out the name and location of each plant in your garden.
Other companies may simply post the plan and an estimate to you. We find this very impersonal and prefer to talk you through the detailed quotation. This meeting helps you to understand exactly what is involved in the building of your new garden, it is also another time for us to answer your questions and clarify things if necessary.