Garden Designer and Landscaper

Do you need a garden designer or a landscaper?

For a substantial garden project, the answer is often both.

A garden designer determines how the garden should work, how it should look and how its different elements relate to one another.

A professional landscaper then has to translate those ideas into a physical garden through groundworks, drainage, construction, paving, structures and planting.

At Kirman Design, we combine both disciplines.

We provide professional garden design and landscaping throughout North West England, allowing clients to work with one company from the initial ideas for their garden through to landscape construction and planting.

The result is a more connected process in which the people responsible for creating the design understand how it will be built — and the landscaping team understands the design it is being asked to create.

What's the Difference Between a Garden Designer and a Landscaper?

Although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, garden design and landscaping are different disciplines.

A garden designer considers the overall landscape.

This can include:

• Layout

• Proportion

• Views

• Circulation

• Garden levels

• Terraces

• Paths

• Planting

• Trees

• Privacy

• Outdoor living

• Materials

• Lighting

• Water

• Focal points

A landscaper is responsible for physically constructing the garden.

Landscaping may involve:

• Excavation

• Groundworks

• Drainage

• Foundations

• Paving

• Walls

• Steps

• Decking

• Fencing

• Structures

• Lawns

• Soil preparation

• Planting

On a professionally designed garden, these two disciplines need to work closely together.

Do I Need a Garden Designer or a Landscaper?

That depends upon what you want to achieve.

If you already know precisely what needs constructing — perhaps replacing a straightforward patio or fence — you may only require a landscaper.

If you are trying to determine what the garden should become, design should normally come first.

This is particularly important where the project involves several interconnected elements.

For example, you may want:

• A larger terrace

• Better privacy

• New planting

• An outdoor kitchen

• Garden lighting

• A pergola

• New trees

The question isn't simply whether each feature can be installed.

The important question is where everything should go and how it should work together.

That is where professional garden design becomes valuable.

Why Use a Garden Designer and Landscaper Together?

A design only becomes successful when it can be translated accurately into the finished garden.

Construction also involves decisions that can influence the design.

Levels may need refinement once excavation begins.

Existing ground conditions can affect drainage.

Material junctions need careful detailing.

Planting may require subtle adjustments once the physical spaces exist.

When garden design and landscaping are coordinated, these decisions can be considered within the context of the overall garden.

This is one of the principal advantages of our complete garden design and build approach.

One Company From Design to Finished Garden

Managing a substantial garden project can otherwise involve several separate companies.

You might commission one person to design it, another contractor to construct the hard landscaping, an electrician for lighting and somebody else to organise planting.

Every handover creates another opportunity for information to be lost.

At Kirman Design, our approach brings together:

Garden Design → Landscape Construction → Planting

This provides continuity from the initial concept through to the completed landscape.

Starting With the Garden Design

Before deciding upon individual products and materials, we need to understand the garden.

We consider the property, existing landscape and how you want to use the space.

Questions might include:

• Where do you naturally enter the garden?

• Where is the best place to sit?

• Which views should be emphasised?

• Which views should be screened?

• How much lawn do you actually need?

• Where does the sun fall?

• How should different levels connect?

• Which existing trees should remain?

• How much maintenance is appropriate?

• How will the garden look from inside?

The answers help establish the structure of the design.

Designing Around Your Property

A garden doesn't exist independently from the house.

Doors, windows, architecture and internal rooms all influence the landscape.

The principal terrace might relate to a kitchen.

A specimen tree could terminate a view from the living room.

Paving might complement the materials used on the property.

Planting can soften a contemporary extension.

For homes that have undergone significant work, our garden design for renovated properties considers how the garden can become the final part of the renovation.

Garden Designer and Landscaper for New Extensions

A house extension can completely change how the garden works.

New doors may create different routes outside.

Existing paving may no longer relate to the building.

External levels can become awkward.

Our garden design for new extensions considers these issues while the relationship between house and garden is being established.

Where construction is already complete, garden design after a house extension can reconsider the landscape around the finished building.

Landscaping After Building Work

Construction can leave gardens badly disrupted.

Lawns may be destroyed, soil compacted and paving damaged.

Changes in levels and drainage can also create problems that aren't immediately obvious.

Our landscaping after building work addresses these practical issues before creating the finished landscape.

This is often a much better long-term approach than simply covering the damage with turf and replacement paving.

Landscape Construction

Once the design has been developed, the physical work begins.

Our landscape construction can include the structural work required to create the garden.

This may involve:

• Excavation

• Ground preparation

• Drainage

• Foundations

• Paving

• Walls

• Steps

• Structures

• Service routes

• Preparation for lawns and planting

Much of the quality within a finished garden depends upon work that eventually becomes invisible.

Good construction beneath the surface is fundamental to the longevity of what you see above it.

Groundworks and Excavation

Substantial garden transformations often require significant groundworks.

Old patios may need removing.

Existing levels might need changing.

Retaining structures can require foundations.

Drainage may need installing.

These works need to be coordinated with the finished design.

Excavating first and deciding what the garden should look like afterwards is rarely the best sequence.

Garden Drainage

Drainage is particularly important in North West England.

High rainfall and areas of heavy soil mean that surface water needs to be considered carefully.

Our garden drainage solutions look at levels, ground conditions and hard landscaping together.

Drainage infrastructure can then be installed during the construction phase before the finished garden covers it.

Paving and Terraces

Paving frequently represents a significant part of the landscaping budget.

It therefore deserves to be properly designed.

Our garden paving considers the size and position of terraces as part of the complete landscape.

We look at how furniture will fit, how people will circulate and how paving relates to the house and planting.

The objective isn't simply to create the largest possible patio.

It is to create the right amount of hard landscaping in the right place.

Garden Walls and Steps

Changes in level can be resolved through retaining walls, terraces and steps.

These elements can also contribute to the architecture of the garden.

Broad steps can emphasise an important route.

Raised planting can create enclosure around a terrace.

Walls can define different spaces.

When these features are considered by both the designer and landscaping team, technical requirements and visual appearance can be developed together.

Planting Design

A garden isn't finished when the paving is complete.

Planting provides softness, movement, seasonal change and much of the atmosphere of the finished landscape.

Our planting design may incorporate:

• Trees

• Shrubs

• Herbaceous perennials

• Ornamental grasses

• Evergreen planting

• Climbers

• Ground cover

• Hedging

• Bulbs

Plant selection considers both appearance and the conditions within the garden.

Specimen Trees

Trees provide a scale that smaller planting cannot.

They can frame views, provide privacy, introduce height and help a newly landscaped garden feel more established.

Where appropriate, we can incorporate larger specimen trees into the landscape.

Their position needs to be considered early because access for larger trees can become restricted as construction progresses.

This is another example of why design and landscaping benefit from being planned together.

Privacy and Screening

Privacy is one of the most common reasons homeowners decide to redesign their gardens.

Our garden screening ideas can incorporate hedges, trees, structural planting and garden structures.

Rather than simply raising the boundary height, we look at the actual sightlines that need interrupting.

This can produce a much more natural and attractive solution.

Outdoor Kitchens

An outdoor kitchen can be incorporated into the overall garden design rather than positioned on the patio as an afterthought.

The design can consider:

• Position

• Circulation

• Dining

• Seating

• Views

• Services

• Lighting

• Planting

The landscaping process can then provide the required infrastructure before the finished surfaces are installed.

Pergolas and Outdoor Rooms

A garden pergola can help define a dining or seating area.

It introduces height and can create a stronger sense of enclosure.

In larger gardens, pergolas and other structures can also create destinations away from the house.

Their position should form part of the overall landscape design.

Garden Lighting

Garden lighting works best when it is considered before construction is complete.

Our garden lighting can highlight planting, specimen trees, walls, steps and water.

Planning early allows cables and other infrastructure to be incorporated during landscaping.

The result can be considerably more subtle than trying to illuminate the entire garden from fittings attached to the house.

Water Features

Water can provide movement, reflection and sound.

Its position can also create an important focal point.

A contemporary water feature aligned with a window or doorway might become a significant part of the view from inside.

Because design and landscaping are coordinated, the feature's structure, services and surrounding planting can all be considered as part of the same project.

Large Garden Designer and Landscaper

Large gardens require careful planning.

Simply increasing the quantities of paving, lawn and planting rarely produces a successful landscape.

Our garden design for large gardens considers proportion, circulation, sightlines and the relationship between different spaces.

The subsequent landscaping of large gardens can then focus investment where it will have the greatest impact.

More intensively designed areas may surround the house while lawns, woodland, meadow or orchards create simpler landscapes further away.

Contemporary Garden Designer and Landscaper

Contemporary garden design requires precision.

Simple layouts often expose poor detailing more readily than complicated ones.

Our contemporary garden design combines architectural structure with planting to create landscapes that feel modern without becoming sterile.

Construction quality is particularly important where paving lines, steps, walls and other elements are deliberately aligned.

Garden Designer and Landscaper for Period Properties

Older properties require a different sensitivity.

Our garden design for period properties considers the architecture and character of Victorian, Edwardian and other established homes.

That doesn't mean every period property needs a traditional garden.

Contemporary landscaping can provide a successful contrast when proportions, materials and planting are carefully handled.

Complete Garden Transformations

Sometimes the existing garden simply no longer works.

Perhaps it has evolved through years of unrelated alterations.

Maybe you've recently purchased the property.

Or building work has fundamentally changed the relationship between house and garden.

A complete garden transformation provides the opportunity to reconsider the landscape as a whole.

Valuable mature trees and other existing features can still be retained while the structure around them changes completely.

Can a Garden Designer Save Money on Landscaping?

Professional garden design involves an additional upfront cost, but its purpose is to make informed decisions before expensive construction begins.

Changing a line on a design is considerably easier than moving a completed retaining wall.

Design can also help prioritise expenditure.

Not every area of the garden needs the same level of investment.

The aim is to use the available landscaping budget intelligently rather than simply adding more features.

Should I Get a Garden Design Before Asking for Landscaping Quotes?

For a substantial transformation, this can be a much more meaningful approach.

Without a design, different landscapers may be pricing completely different interpretations of what the garden could become.

Once the layout, materials, levels and features have been defined, the construction requirements become clearer.

This creates a stronger basis for understanding the likely cost of the project.

How Much Does a Garden Designer and Landscaper Cost?

The cost depends upon both the design requirements and the scale of landscaping involved.

Construction costs can be influenced by:

• Garden size

• Access

• Ground conditions

• Excavation

• Drainage

• Changes in level

• Paving

• Walls

• Steps

• Structures

• Lighting

• Water features

• Outdoor kitchens

• Planting

• Tree sizes

Our guide to how much garden design costs provides more information about the professional design process.

Once the garden has been designed, the landscaping requirements can be understood in much greater detail.

Garden Designer and Landscaper Across North West England

Kirman Design provides professional garden design and landscaping throughout North West England, including Lancashire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, the Ribble Valley and surrounding areas.

We work on gardens of different styles around contemporary properties, period houses, extensions and renovated homes.

Our understanding of regional conditions is also important.

Rainfall, clay soils, drainage and exposure can significantly influence both landscape construction and planting in the North West.

These practical considerations form part of the design rather than being left for the landscaping team to discover later.

Why Choose Kirman Design?

Choosing a company to transform your garden isn't simply about finding someone who can lay paving.

Nor is it simply about commissioning an attractive garden plan.

The two need to come together.

Kirman Design combines professional garden design, landscape construction and planting within one coordinated service.

Our designers can consider how the landscape will actually be built.

Our landscaping team can understand the reasoning behind the design they are constructing.

And planting can be considered from the beginning rather than added to whatever space remains at the end.

This continuity helps us protect the design intent throughout the project.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between a garden designer and a landscaper?

A garden designer plans the layout, appearance and overall function of the landscape. A landscaper physically constructs the garden through groundworks, drainage, paving, walls, structures, lawns and other practical work.

Do I need both a garden designer and a landscaper?

For straightforward construction work, you may only require a landscaper. For a substantial garden transformation where the layout itself needs reconsidering, professional design is normally advisable before construction begins.

Does Kirman Design provide both services?

Yes. Kirman Design provides garden design, landscape construction and planting, allowing us to take projects from initial concept through to the completed garden.

Do you use your own landscaping team?

Our garden design and landscaping services are coordinated within Kirman Design, providing continuity between the design and its construction.

Can you redesign my entire garden?

Yes. We undertake complete garden transformations as well as projects where selected existing features are retained.

Can you landscape a garden designed by somebody else?

Potentially, subject to reviewing the design, specification and construction information available.

Can you design a garden and have somebody else landscape it?

Depending upon the service agreed, this may be possible. However, using a coordinated design and build approach can provide greater continuity on complex projects.

Do you undertake planting as part of the landscaping?

Yes. Planting design and installation can form part of the complete project.

Do you work on large gardens?

Yes. We design and landscape substantial gardens where scale, levels, circulation and planting require careful planning.

Where do you work?

Kirman Design provides garden design and landscaping throughout North West England, including Lancashire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, the Ribble Valley and surrounding areas.

Looking for a Garden Designer and Landscaper?

You don't necessarily need to choose between the person who designs your garden and the company that builds it.

For substantial garden transformations, bringing the two disciplines together can create a much more coherent process.

The garden can be designed with construction in mind.

The landscaping can be undertaken with an understanding of the design.

And planting can complete the landscape rather than simply decorate it.

If you are looking for a professional garden designer and landscaper in North West England, contact Kirman Design to discuss your project.