Garden Design For Guildford
AN OBSESSION WITH THE SCULPTURAL QUALITIES OF PLANTS
GARDEN DESIGN & PLANTING FOR GUILDFORD
The Garden Design Team here at Architectural Plants believe that the most captivating gardens in Guildford are created with distinctive sculptural ideas and a fusion of the most stunning plants from around the world. These might reflect Guildford’s rich mixture of Modern, Georgian and Medieval influences, blending traditional garden aesthetics with contemporary design. Or, they might be very personal and exceptional spaces inspired by individual taste and garden situation.
Conveniently, everything you might need to create your new garden is here at our nursery. With over 40,000 plants to choose from, our designers will help you create a unique scheme from our collection of topiary, screening, mature and juvenile trees, exotics, rarities, hedging, shrubs and border plants. You’ll discover a broad and inspiring selection which is suited to Guildford’s varying garden spaces as well as its climate and soil. We venture further to suggest you might even uncover alternatives you’ll have never considered before.
With a highly personal and collaborative approach, your designer will advise, guide and inspire you with their expert knowledge. They use a 3-Step process honed over the last 30 years to eliminate all the kerfuffle that can come with other design and planting methods. Tailored to meet your personal requirements and surpass your expectations (however impossible or daunting you think the task might be initially). The result will be an expertly curated and planted transformation full of the plants you love, in a garden design you can immerse yourself in and enjoy all year round.
TAKE THE NEXT STEPS
Embark on a journey to transform your garden in Guildford with us. Complete our enquiry form and let our Garden Design team get an idea of your plans. Attach photos of your garden -from all relevant angles- and any other plans you might have. Let us bring your dream garden to life.
You might be looking to re-imagine your beds and borders or have plans for a compact space such as a courtyard or front garden. You might have a more expansive garden area, a complex and unusual layout or a large estate garden. Your time might be extremely valuable and you might require rapid results expertly managed, curated and planted with the minimal amount of fuss. This might be your first garden or you might be looking to fulfil a life time’s dream and immerse yourself in the adventure. We can tailor an approach that works for you.
For all other general plant enquiries visit our contact page.
Ask about our garden design service
OUR 3-STEP GARDEN DESIGN PROCESS
What will set your garden apart?
The variety and fusion of plants you can choose from. Their quality and provenance. Their shape and form. Their capability to transform any space. Our West Sussex nursery is at the heart of your journey and provides the inspiration. A visit here is a pivotal step in our design process. However, if you are unable to visit, our designers can help you explore your choices with video calls and photos. They’ll prompt you to think creatively – even audaciously: dramatic topiary, undulating & meandering blobberies, smart avenues, intricately planted screening, defined hedges, lush groves, and exciting, exotic, rare or jungly environments. If you love our plants then you will love your garden. Our expertise spans a diverse range of spaces, from small gardens and intimate courtyards to large gardens, complex layouts, city roof terraces and country estates; no project is too grand or modest. Whether you’re thinking of a formal setting or a more contemporary fusion, your garden will be both elegant and exciting.
What sets our process apart?
The convenience, continuity and efficiency of having everything you’ll need in one place. Over 30 years’ experience designing and planting exceptional gardens for our customers. A combined Nursery, Design, Planting & Creative Maintenance service that gets the job done. An enjoyable, exciting, collaborative and personal journey with the expertise to manage the whole process for you should you prefer. A momentum and swiftness steering away from conventional drawings, sourcing dilemmas and other frustrating factors that we know can inhibit your involvement and peace of mind. Here’s how we’ll transform your garden:
From Our Nursery to your garden in 3 Steps
Before
1. Fill in the form below or pop into our Nursery to discuss your initial ideas with one of our team directly.
2. Jay, our Head of Garden Design, will then contact you to discuss your requirements in more detail and put you in touch with one of our designers.
3. They will visit you for a modest fee, based on their time (including travel).
4. A proposal follows, including a summary of your meeting, plant suggestions and the total cost of the plants, planting and irrigation (where applicable).
5. At this point we will invite you to the nursery to go through the design in greater detail and show you the actual plants that we will be using.
6. If you agree, a planting date is set, the plants are selected and you’re invoiced (just for the plants at this stage).
During
7. The designer and planting team will arrive on the specified day and the plants will be positioned – a bit like designing on the ground, instead of on a piece of paper.
8. Once you’re happy with the arrangement, the beds will be reshaped where necessary and the planting will begin.
9. Once planted, an irrigation system is installed (this is optional, but we always recommend it), new edges are cut, mulch is applied and everything is left looking lovely.
After
10. You’re invoiced for the planting, irrigation system, mulch, etc., and left in peace to enjoy your garden.
11. We remind you that it doesn’t necessarily end there: creative maintenance, plant advice and horticultural expansion are all right up our street.
Our designers are always keen to advise that you ask us to instal our irrigation system. They’re also very keen on designing with pathways, water features, pots, sculpture and creative structural edging for your beds and borders; all elements that we provide to enrich the time you’ll spend in your garden. However, we don’t provide hard landscaping but we have many years of experience working successfully in collaboration with external contactors employed by our customers who do this. Do talk with our design team about this should you require further explanation.
OUR GARDEN DESIGNERS
Debbie
Debbie Boxall is our Garden Design Project Manager. She has been working in horticulture for over 15 years and originally specialised in aquatic plants. In fact, on occasion, she can still be seen in a wet suit (when she’s not surfing that is) up to her neck in pond weed. She also finds time to squeeze in the odd marathon or three.
Debbie has been at Architectural Plants since 2011 and is a highly experienced designer. She puts her energy for life into the gardens she creates. She is extremely versatile in both budget and concept, designing small courtyards and roof terraces to large country gardens. She listens to her clients and creates beautiful architectural gardens that reflect their needs. Debbie’s approach to garden design is client-led. She listens to what you envisage for your garden, how you use or intend to use your space and what styles you like most in plants and design. Debbie is hands on and will be on site from conception through to completion, communicating with her clients all the way.
Niwaki planted and looking gorgeous. We love her! You were fantastic and did such a quick and efficient job. Our thanks again for ensuring the job was done in time for our anniversary”
Amy
Amy Robertson is our Senior Garden designer, winning a Silver-Gilt and People’s Choice Award for a garden she designed with two fellow designers at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in 2015.
Amy is an experienced designer and horticulturalist, with over 12 years in the industry. She trained at Brinsbury College before working with the Garden Team at Nymans National Trust and later in a sales role at a local nursery. Amy went on to establish her own successful garden design and maintenance business before joining the growing Architectural Plants team in February 2017.
Amy graduated from the Garden Design School in 2013 and has since worked on a variety of projects from courtyard gardens to large country gardens. Amy’s passion is using shrubs, grasses and herbaceous plants in a contemporary way but always with an eye for the architectural.
We can’t tell you how delighted we both are with our fabulous planting scheme – you’ve given us our dream garden. I just had to message you tonight to let you know we are thrilled”
Guy
Owner, Guy, has been building and designing gardens from an early age. University holidays were filled working with Angus before graduating to co-found a horticultural charity for young people that focused on residential and urban projects.
At A.P, Guy has specialised in managing larger landscaping projects and installations. He has led multiple award-winning RHS Chelsea and Hampton Court Palace Flower Show gardens, a planting installation for the Burberry flagship store, multiple projects working with a variety of London-based property developers and a long list of residential designs and builds.
He brings a wealth of practical knowledge to the construction of his designs, planning for an immediate result but with a strong emphasis on considering the garden’s maturing feel. Guy wants evolving spaces with a bold structural scheme filled with a concise and impactful pallet of homegrown or rare specimens. It’s a dynamic and personal approach to your garden for the adventurous or experimental customer. If you want to try new things, Guy will unleash your garden’s potential.
We half-heartedly described our thoughts with Guy, but within minutes were swept up in his passion for his work and enthusiasm for the project. The longer we spoke to him, the greater our excitement grew”
Zac
Zac joined us in 2020 having previously worked in New Zealand designing and planting gardens. Drawing on his knowledge as a plantsman and with a degree in creative design, he loves to get to work on innovative designs that will transform your garden.
If you are looking to be a bit daring, Zac’s ready to discuss exciting alternatives using a unique fusion of our plants and rarer specimens.
My husband and I are not great gardeners and Zac was tremendous, helping us choose wonderful plants (so many we hadn’t even seen before), and making the important design decisions. A seamless process from start to finish. We only wished we had more garden space to keep working with him.”