Step 2 – Defining Your Garden Style

Nailing your garden style is more than just picking between "modern" and "traditional".  Let's find the look that truly resonates with you.

With a sense of how you want to use your space, it's time to consider how it might look and feel. This is where it gets exciting – we're not talking plant names or materials just yet, but rather the aesthetic direction, or what designers call the "design language" of your garden.

If you and your partner are tackling this together and find yourselves at odds, don't worry. It's our job as designers to find the overlap between differing tastes and create something you both love.

Step 1: Gather Images

Start collecting pictures that resonate with you. Think Pinterest, Instagram, Houzz, books, magazines, or even photos from your travels. Choose gardens, yes, but also architecture, interior design, holiday villas – anything that gives you that "this feels right" buzz.

Select both what you love and what you don't. Contradictions are welcome at this stage – we're looking for patterns, not perfect consistency.

Step 2: Order vs Disorder

Start to notice the structure in the images you like:

• Are they crisp, tidy and geometric?
• Are they soft, relaxed and naturalistic?
• Do you favour straight lines or flowing curves?
• Do you like everything to feel contained, or wild and spilling over?

Even subtle preferences here will help shape the layout and structure of your future garden.

Step 3: Open vs Enclosed

Do you love a broad, open view – seeing the whole garden at once? Or do you prefer more private, intimate spaces, perhaps hidden corners or winding paths that unfold gradually?

Most people lean one way or the other, even in small gardens, and that preference can influence everything from planting style to hard landscaping.

Step 4: Embrace the Unexpected

You might be surprised by what you gravitate toward. Maybe it's minimalist Japanese gardens, or lush Mediterranean courtyards. Don't worry if your favourites seem mismatched or over-the-top – there are always themes we can draw out and translate to suit your space.

Remember, you're not constrained by what you think you can have. This is about the feel, not copying details brick for brick.

Step 5: Don't Second-Guess Yourself

Let yourself respond instinctively to the images you collect. You might think "I love this, but it must be high maintenance", or "we could never afford this". Put those thoughts aside for now. We can often achieve a similar feel with lower maintenance planting or clever spatial design.

By the end of this stage, you'll have a strong sense of your preferred style and how your garden should feel. This will form the foundation for the next phase: choosing planting styles and key structural elements.

Stay tuned for Blog 3: The Planting Palette, where we move into the heart and soul of the garden – the planting style that brings it all to life.