Permaculture design gives anyone the tools they need to create their own garden design. By following permaculture ethics, principles and design methodologies we can all move closer and closer to a truly sustainable way of life.
So many may ask why they should employ the services of a permaculture designer. Why get help to design a garden when you could simply make your own plans?
Permaculture Garden Design – Guidance and Mentoring for Garden Planning
First things first, I would say that when you employ a permaculture garden designer like me, you are not really getting someone to ‘do your homework’ for you. You are employing a guide and mentor to make suggestions and to see you safely and successfully through the process and work with you on planning your garden.
Permaculture garden design is a collaborative process between the designer and clients. This is one of the things that can set my type of design apart from all too many contemporary landscape designs, which involve designers imposing their own ideas rather than working to deliver what the site and clients require.
My Garden Design Process
I offer both design and consultancy services – a flexible approach that allows me to work with clients in a way that suits them.
In most cases, garden designs will begin with a questionnaire sent to prospective clients.
Once I receive the answers to that questionnaire, I ask any follow up questions if I have any, and then quote for a design.
I usually design in a two part process. First, I create a concept plan, like those shown as case studies on this site.
Next, if required, I can proceed, after client feedback, to create full planting plans and a report with further detail on elements of the concept design.
Garden Consultancy
As an alternative to a full design, for more experienced gardeners and those who are already, perhaps, permaculture practitioners, I offer flexible email-based consultancy on an hourly basis.
This may be a good option for those who have created their own tentative permaculture designs but who would like some help and guidance nonetheless.
A Fresh Eye and a Holistic View
Both new and experienced gardeners certainly can work through the process of permaculture design to work out a design for their own projects.
But a permaculture designer can provide a fresh take and has a slight distance from the project that fosters impartiality and a clear perspective.
Sometimes it can become challenging in your own garden, on the ground, to rise up and get the bird’s eye view needed for a holistic perspective. An experienced designer should have honed the ability to see the bigger picture and the broader patterns before honing in on the detail.
By bringing a fresh perspective to a project, and helping a client to synthesise their own ideas while also adding other suggestions, a professional garden designer following a permaculture approach can help you to ensure that you do not get bogged down and overwhelmed by the project.
Design Experience – Learning from Prior Projects
Every project is different, of course, but unlike someone creating a permaculture design for their own property, a professional permaculture designer will have created a number of designs – learning from each one to build up sound, professional knowledge of what works in different settings, and what does not.
Taking a DIY approach you will inevitably make mistakes and fall prey to certain pitfalls – that is only to be expected especially if you are new to the design process.
Working with someone who has seen and done similar things before won’t necessarily mean that there will not be minor changes to be made plans are put into practice, but can mean fewer costly mistakes that need to be rectified down the line.
Local Garden Design Near Me Vs Remote Permaculture Design
Many looking for garden design services will first search locally. And it can indeed be beneficial for a designer to be able to make a site visit.
However, in our amazingly connected world, it is now easier than ever to obtain the required information for design remotely, especially when the designer works closely with the client on the ground.
Engaging with clients and using online tools and resources, a designer can obtain almost all the same information that they would by actually visiting the site.
Though some may still prefer a local landscape designer, remote permaculture design is also worth considering as long as, like me, the designer still works to the specifics of the site, and is dedicated to choosing the right methods, elements and (largely native) plants for the particular site and client.
I have been working on bespoke, remote designs with gardeners and farmers for around 8 years now and hope to do so for many more years to come.
Working on diverse projects around the world from my base here in Scotland, while tending my own forest garden, has allowed me to develop a deeper understanding of design for a wide range of climates and situations, at a range of scales – an understanding that it would not have been possible to develop if I had worked only locally.
If you are interested in garden design, landscape design at any scale, or consultancy services, please do get in touch.
EWSP Consultancy 