Like the interiors of our homes, our gardens should reflect our personalities and lifestyles. Quiet and reserved? Loud and brash? Well, why not? We should have the garden we want.

But, there are a couple things that seem to stop people from having the garden of their dreams - money and fear.

Don't worry ... they're only plants!

Imagine your garden is a soap opera on the TV. You sit and watch it everyday. The plants are the actors ... some appear for years, others come and go. Some of the characters are born in the garden, while others move from a land far away. Some of the young ones grow up very quick, others take years to mature into their role.

The plants, you have to remember, aren't in the garden just to look pretty, there is a job to do ... multiply. Yes, it's true - plants have sex (kind of). But, that's not all that goes on - there's the violence too. Some plants, usually weeds, can be real thugs fighting for space and water. And then death.

OK, it's true, some plants do die and that's what we are all afraid of. Some (annuals - things like bedding plants) are supposed to. Others (shrubs and perennials) are meant to live for years but here's the important part ... they only do if they are happy.

The most common mistake made in the garden is buying a plant without reading first if it is suitable for your garden plot. There are several things that make a garden "wrong" - the weather, soil, light levels etc. We are often mislead into believing that all plants will grow anywhere. We've all seen a plant on the TV, in a book or at the garden centre that we'd love in the garden ... if only it was that easy. I'd love a tree fern in my garden but living on the Sussex coast, in an area notoriously windy, it'd never look as good as it should unless I created my own micro-climate by planting bigger, more wind-tolerant plants around it to offer some protection.

If you have a more sheltered garden than me, you don't have to worry about soil conditions for Tree Ferns but never ignore a label's instructions for soil requirements. A plant in the wrong soil type, or an acid lover in alkaline soil (or vice versa) will usually die. It certainly won't ever look like it is supposed to.

Remember, right plant, right place but better still, give me a call or send me an email.

But a Garden Designer will cost me a fortune won't it?

Well, that all depends on what you call expensive. Getting your garden professionally designed, with a planting plan, doesn't cost very much at all - more details can be found on the design process page of this site. The cost of actually building the garden I design for you may cost as much as a new bathroom or kitchen and why shouldn't you spend this much? Your garden is on show to the world and, unlike a room inside, is constantly changing - you get much better value for money from a new garden!

Also, this isn't Ground Force ... you get more than two days to build your garden. Do it at your own pace, spread it over a a couple of years, or do a bit whenever funds allow. Just let me know that this your plan and I'll revise my plan giving instructions on the order I would recommend things be done.