Garden Design
Where no stone is metaphorically left unturned.
When you step into an Outfront Designs garden you step into another space. A space that is designed around you and your needs, and made to be lived in. Generous planting paired with considered hard landscaping, for you, and your family and friends to enjoy a beautiful, functional, welcoming space.
East London is full of small gardens and so they have become our speciality. Tiny terrace? No problem. While small, they are full of potential to be transformed into places where you can delight in beauty and joy every day.
Drawing on years of orchestral playing, we’re mindful of rhythm and repetition in our designs, and are known for our intuitive feel for colour in our voluptuous planting schemes.
Our Process
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![A woman with glasses and short blonde hair, smiling, sitting on wooden steps in a garden with lush green plants and trees, sunlight filtering through the leaves.]()
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The process starts with a conversation – about what you are looking for, your timeline, your budget, what you need – and whether we’re a good fit.
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![View of a backyard garden through open French doors, featuring a wooden deck, potted plants, lavender, small table, benches, and lush green trees and shrubs.]()
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This is quickly followed up with a site survey. It may sound dry but it’s such an important part of the process as it gives us time to be in the garden, to feel it, to hear what’s around, to absorb it. A site survey captures key measurements - dimensions, levels, features, drainage -and the overall feel of the garden.
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![A tree trunk with rough bark surrounded by green leaves and flowering plants with small white and yellow blossoms in a garden setting.]()
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The client brief process draws out everything that you are looking for, and once signed off, becomes the guiding star for the whole project.
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![Pink and white flowering shrub with blooming blossoms and green leaves in a garden.]()
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Moodboards and design concepts are drawn up in order to talk about the look, tone and feel of the project.
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![Bright yellow outdoor patio furniture set with a table and two chairs on a brick patio, surrounded by green plants and a wooden fence.]()
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Then it’s on to a detailed design and any construction drawings, in order that landscapers can provide quotes for the work.
While that’s going on, we can progress the planting design – the element that naturally animates any garden. This plots out what plants will go where and how many of each. We offer a plant sourcing service.
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![A garden corner with various green plants and ferns, a wooden fence, a small wooden house, and an assortment of terracotta pots, some with plants, near a brick pot.]()
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Once you have chosen your landscaper, and a date for the work has been set, we can be engaged to meet them on site, brief them on the build, and offer a service to inspect as any construction is undertaken.
After the landscapers have left, and the ground is prepared, we will return to plant up the garden.
It was a pleasure working with Lucy to transform our front garden from a fairly bare plot that had just been hard landscaped.
From the ideation phase up until planting up and maintenance, Lucy has been an invaluable source of advice and support. As a novice gardener myself, I have really enjoyed all my conversations with Lucy and have learned much from her.
Our garden is exactly what I’d hoped for, but couldn’t have conceived of alone, without her thoughtful and creative design (e.g., the water bowls, which I would not have thought of but receive frequent compliments!).
One thing I particularly appreciate about Lucy is her keenness to understand how the garden is progressing some months after it was planted up. I would wholeheartedly recommend her services.
IANTHE, UPPER WALTHAMSTOW
Lucy was such a pleasure to work with. She worked carefully to merge our needs with an abundance of ideas and inspiration, she was endlessly patient, and has a genuine commitment to the projects she undertakes.
She is incredibly clear about timings, costs and process and has a gentle, reliable manner that really made the whole design, planting up and aftercare go like a dream! Highly recommend!
LOUISA, WALTHAMSTOW
We worked with Lucy to design our garden taking it from an eyesore to a space we absolutely love.
It was a big build and redesign, Lucy worked really well with us throughout the whole process. She answered all my questions from paving to landscaping. Lucy is client focussed, listened to what we wanted and has delivered a wonderful garden for us.
I’ve gone from being embarrassed to being really proud of the garden and we love it. It brings us total joy and I’d happily recommend Lucy to anyone.
GEM, ALDERSBROOK
Lucy has created the most magical space for us in our tiny terraced garden. Our brief was for it to be wildlife friendly and as green as possible when looking out from the kitchen and Lucy's design has delivered over and above our expectations.
The garden is now a year old and there have been plants flowering in it for all 12 months of the year. We have had a whole host of birds, bees, butterflies, spiders and even a frog visit us in the year since it's been in and we can't wait to see how it develops and grows over the coming years.
The attention to detail Lucy paid to plant selection and sourcing has been invaluable. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend Lucy to anyone wanting to create a similar space in their own gardens.
AMY, WALTHAMSTOW
We offer a document detailing garden care advice for the plants in your garden, and hands-on garden care too. On some projects we’ve worked alongside the clients to skill them up and give them the confidence so that they can care for the plants themselves.
The cost of the schemes we have designed range from £15,000 - £35,000.
Get in touch now to book a discovery call.
Other Offerings
With a keen eye for detail, an intrinsic sense of balance and an intuitive feel for colour, Outfront Designs offers a range of services to meet your needs - from a full garden design package through stand-alone planting design, to our seasonal window box delivery service.
PLANTING DESIGN
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We’ve successfully provided planting design only packages a number of times, most often where a client has recently completed any ‘hard landscaping’ such as raised beds, paving, and so on, themselves. At this point, none of that is up for grabs. Rather it’s a case of working with the layout, and proposing a planting scheme that suits the conditions – the orientation, light levels, materials of the beds or paving and the client’s own aesthetic preferences.
GARDEN CONSULTATION
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Maybe you’ve had your garden some time and it feels like time for a fresh pair of eyes on it. Or you’ve recently moved and want to understand how to make the garden work for you.
I offer a 1-day consultation service where I visit site, talk with you about how you’d like to use the garden, and produce a written report that you can work to at your own pace. It’s the insight and expertise of someone working full time in garden design that you’re getting.
A closer look at my work
Discover more of my work, planting ideas, and ongoing projects over on Instagram.
FAQs - Garden Design
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The design phase usually takes around 2-4 months. The speed is determined by the challenges the site may present, and client availability to engage in the process.
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This varies from project to project, depending on the time taken to complete it. I prepare a Fee Proposal for all projects broken down step-by-step so that you can see exactly where my time and your money will go.
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This is such a big question, and of course costs will vary depending on the size, scale, complexity, materials specified and so on. I will always draft a design with your budget in mind. Another approach is to come up with a masterplan for your garden that can be implemented over time as funds become available. The gardens I have designed to date have cost between £15,000 to £35,000 to implement.
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I’m always surprised how much I am asked this! No, I don’t do any hard landscaping myself. Instead, having designed the space, I can share a list of local contractors who you can approach to implement the design. Thus you will have a separate contract with me, from that with the landscapers.
I’m more than happy to talk with the appointed landscapers, briefing them on the design, resolving any issues that may arise, and offer a project inspection role to ensure that the design is being implemented faithfully. -
I hold both professional indemnity and public liability insurance.
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I am a Friend of the Society of Landscape and Garden Designers, and have been so since gaining my Diploma. I find it a valuable source of information.
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I love learning and enjoy reading and attending events. I take Gardens Illustrated magazine, and the journal of the SGLD. I attend events when I can such as the London Gardens Network conference, the SGLD Conference, and smaller, more local events such as GroundLevel. And I always love a garden visit!