Heather Dale Garden Design

I have always been involved with plants and gardens for as long as I can remember, helping in my parents greenhouse or tending my own plot of garden. As a teenager I redesigned my part of the garden with a pond and rockery and showed plants at our local alpine shows. Saturday and summer jobs were working in plant nurseries such as Blooms of Bressingham, private gardens and landscape contractors. At University I studied Plant Science and Ecology, right through to a PhD in Plant Ecophysiology. Throughout I have developed the various gardens that came with the rented accommodation, keeping an allotment when no garden was available. I have always gardened organically, encouraging insects and wildlife whilst making beautiful spaces. Eventually I accepted that my passion is for gardens and plants and I retrained as a Garden Designer in evening classes, passing the HND Garden Design Unit with Merit.

I set up my design studio over ten years ago and have been working towards accreditation with the Society of Garden Designers which I achieved in 2024. My guiding principal throughout has been to leave each garden space more beautiful, with greater biodiversity and better for wildlife than it started. It is also important to me to make wildlife friendly gardening methods easily understandable and achievable for clients.

I have been involved in some fantastic projects, solving complicated problems and creating beautiful gardens.

We provide Garden Design, Planting Design and Garden Consultation services.

Garden Design
We are happy to undertake any size of commission - a compact urban courtyard receives the same care and attention to detail as an expansive rural idyll. Like their owners, every garden is unique. You may or may not know exactly how you want to use the space you have, but it won't be the same as anyone else and we can help tailor the end result to suit your needs.

This service includes some or all of the following:

Initial consultation to assess the garden and discuss your requirements and aspirations, garden uses and the overall budget.
Written brief and fee quotation
Site Survey
Initial sketch design for discussion
Finalised master plan
Detailed construction plan
Planting plan
Project tendering
Project monitoring
Plant sourcing
Plant layout and planting

Planting Design
You may have a garden which is structurally well designed but has never been planted, has some gaps or areas of inappropriate or tired planting. In this case, we offer a planting design service. This could involve a total redesign of your borders’ planting or could simply be supplementary or seasonal planting.

This service includes:
An initial site visit and survey to assess the garden and discuss your requirements and aspirations, garden uses and the overall budget
Written brief and fee quotation
Site Survey
A planting plan identifying the plant species and varieties, location and quantity, drawn in plan view, usually in colour on A3 format. It takes into account the specific conditions of your garden such as soil conditions, aspect, and setting.
A planting schedule for sourcing yourself or pricing with our wholesale suppliers.
Basic care instructions

Optional extras:
Plant Sourcing
Sourcing, selection and collection of plants from nurseries or wholesale suppliers. Of course you are welcome to come along to the nursery if you wish.

Plant Layout and planting
Layout of plants in your garden and/or their planting