SARAH CADMAN
GARDEN DESIGN
introduction
Gardens are as individual as we are; simple or complex, open or hidden, playful or serious, for everyone or just someone.
They can be a place of rest and relaxation.
A ‘useable’ space, for growing, walking and playing.
Somewhere to view from indoors.
A working garden with fruit trees and vegetables.
A wild zone, not for lawn mowers, with a wildflower meadow and orchard.
“Sarah transformed my boring blank canvas of a garden into a beautiful, colourful and interesting low maintenance garden with which I am delighted. She took my brief on board and at the same time gave valuable guidance and advice. Sarah is a genuine career garden designer and gardener and I highly recommend her.”
Ms R, Forest Row, East Sussex
formal garden style
There are many choices to make on the way to having the garden you want.
Maybe the garden was created previously and just needs a little ‘tweaking’ to make it feel that it is part of your life now.
At other times the garden area doesn't feel right at all, and needs more dramatic interventions.
Just by changing certain plants, or making structural interventions to the layout to create a space that feels right.
Garden design uses a language of its own to create a sense of place, through which a garden can take shape.
 formal style |  modern style |  informal style |  cottage garden style |
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modern garden style
informal garden style
cottage garden style
testimonials
Here are just a few reviews of sarahcadmangardendesign, giving you an idea of how I work, some very honest and interesting reviews of my company to help you decide about whether to go forward and work with me on your garden project.
designing
A design begins with a consultation, which is an informal discussion about your wishes for the garden. From the consultation I will create a brief, which will form the basis for the design. In agreement, I will measure up your garden (large scale gardens may require a qualified land surveyor), with this information I can start designing.
At the next stage of the process I will develop an outline/concept design, which is to scale, with supporting sketches/mood boards for discussion. This is to give you a good impression of your future garden and allows for the design to be worked through with any necessary changes to be made. The outline/concept design gives you a good idea of the layout of the garden it does not finalise material choices, levels or any intricate details of features.
To give you a good idea of what plants to put in your garden I can put together a planting plan, which shows the location, quantity, and other characteristics of plants suitable for the garden.
A final stage, is the layout plan which will show the final arrangement of all areas of hard and soft landscaping involved in creating the garden. The layout plan can inform a contractor so that he is able to estimate costs and build the garden. I will also (if agreed), draw up more detailed design plans that may be necessary for the construction of walls, etc.
The design can be used to develop a garden either in stages over a period of time, or sooner for an immediate result.
example of a planting plan
garden design with entertaining area, water feature, privacy was created using a raised bed system
showing selected plants for a grasses garden
the client wanted to use the area by existing outbuilding for entertaining, it also needed screening
some examples of designwork
sustainable gardening
Sustainable; ‘to be produced or sustained for an indefinite period without damaging the environment, or without depleting a resource, to be renewable’.
There are a number of ways to be Sustainable in the garden, here are some major ones to consider:
Organic
Water management/conservation
Not using plastic – a big topic, but there are many choices out there for gardeners - hover over the images to read more
Peat free – peatlands are being removed from the land at an alarming rate, they are a richly diverse ecosystem that stores a huge amount of carbon, which is released into the atmosphere when they are disrupted by large scale removal.
Nowadays there is a growing awareness of this issue and peat free composts are being sold, however, making your own compost is still the better option.
Planting for pollinators – choosing to use plants that are beneficial to insects especially the pollinators such as bees, this generally means using native plants, but having an array of plants that flower throughout the year is preferable.
Using drought resistant plants – where possible plant these generally low maintenance plants that use less effort and resources to thrive. In areas of the garden that are usually dry where plants would normally need a great deal of water these plants will survive with very little added moisture.
sarah cadman garden designer
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Tracing it back to where I started as a designer, takes me to art college, drawing from life, learning about colours, textures and shapes when studying for my qualification in Textile Design for Interiors.
Creating patterns that evolve through a process of studying different styles, shapes, textures and colours, and then pulling them all together. This can be said to be one of the basic ingredients when designing for a garden.
Hence, when I later retrained it felt quite natural to choose garden design, gaining a BA(Hons) in Landscape Architecture at Greenwich University.
Experience was gained whilst working for Ginkgo landscapes, Randle Siddeley, and later freelancing for two of the UK’s top garden designers.
A year after moving to East Sussex in 2010, I set up a gardening and garden design company.
Hands-on experience of maintaining and developing gardens has been invaluable for me as a designer, to be directly involved with the plants and how they work in different spaces informs the right plant selection.
I am a great advocate of organic, non-chemical gardening, wishing to help our environment, plants and wildlife.
gardens
Below are a few gardens that I have designed, or replanted,
Please click on the pictures to go through to further images of that garden.
contact
Please contact me if you are planning a garden design project for your home or business.
Fill out the contact form below, and I will get back to you to discuss how I can help.
“Thank you so much for looking after everything for me. The garden has brought me so much pleasure. All your hard work in my garden, with such passion for the design and well-being of every plant. You will be so missed.”
Mrs. S, Tunbridge Wells, Kent
“Our main project was a very challenging large, north facing, shady and bare, terraced front plot. Our ambition was to have a garden as colourful as possible given the aspect, fairly low maintenance and bee friendly. We were delighted to be introduced to Sarah, who made meticulous scale plans of the site, arranged photographs at various times of the day to establish sunlight patterns, and then produced a comprehensive planting scheme with technical drawings, using a wide diversity of shrubs, perennials and bulbs, for year round interest. Sarah then ordered everything from a high quality local nursery, arranged for delivery, and spent several days working with us to prepare the site and plant everything according to her plan. So now we not only have a beautiful garden which we are looking forward to watching change with the seasons and develop into a spectacular showpiece, but we have also benefitted from Sarah's expertise in allowing us to work with her and learn from her. She has also kindly given us after-care advice for each plant so that we can maintain the garden going forward. Sarah also helped us tame the existing back garden we inherited from the previous owner, including pruning some very overgrown climbers into shape and again she gave us excellent advice for its ongoing maintenance. In conclusion we are extremely pleased with the services Sarah provided and cannot recommend her highly enough”.