Garden Redesign Warrington: 7 Things to Find Out About Your Garden Before Any Work Begins
Summary
A garden redesign in Warrington works best when it starts with a close look at the plot you already have. Before anyone draws a plan, it’s worth finding out where the sun falls, how the ground slopes, where water collects after rain, how materials will reach the garden, what the boundaries allow, which plants are worth keeping and how your household will use the space. Gathering those answers early saves costly changes once the build has started.
Key Takeaways
- Photographs of the garden at different times of day show where a patio or seating area will actually catch the sun.
- A sloping garden usually needs retaining walls and steps, and the levels decide how much ground is dug out.
- Ground that stays wet for days after rain needs drainage planned into the design, because it’s far harder to add once paving is laid.
- A tree covered by a Tree Preservation Order needs the council’s written consent before it is cut down or lopped.
Redesigning a garden is a large investment, and the decisions made before the design begins shape everything that follows. At Green Acorn Landscape Design, we have over 10 years’ experience of garden design in Warrington and across the North West, so we know what works best for homeowners in the region.
In this post, we’ve put together the seven things worth finding out about your garden before it is designed, to help you understand how each one affects the finished garden and the work needed to build it.
1. How Much Sun Does Each Part of the Garden Get?
A south-facing garden gets sun for most of the day, while a north-facing one may only see it in the far corner. Neighbouring houses and trees change that picture, so the sunniest spot is not always where the current patio sits.
Before a redesign, it will be useful to photograph the garden at different times of day, and in more than one season if you can, as this can help the garden designer make a plan that withstands the test of time. The low winter sun casts long shadows that summer photographs never show. Those pictures tell us where a seating area will keep the evening light and which borders need plants that tolerate shade, so the layout follows the sun.
2. Changes in Level Across the Garden
A fall you’d barely notice when mowing the lawn becomes obvious once paving goes in. A patio has to be close to level, with only a slight fall to carry rainwater away from the house, and it has to sit below the damp proof course, the line in the brickwork that stops damp rising into the walls. On a sloping plot, that usually means retaining walls and steps.
The levels decide how much soil comes out and how many steps the garden needs. Changes in level can also work in the garden’s favour, because a plot split across two or three levels can give each part its own use: dining close to the house, for example, and a quieter seating area further up. On our Garden Design, Warrington project, a sloped garden with angled ground was dug out to new levels, with retaining walls and steps creating two new seating areas in space that had previously gone unused.
3. Where Water Collects After Rain
Late summer is a misleading time to judge drainage, because dry ground absorbs a shower in minutes. Our advice is to walk the garden a day or two after heavy rain, ideally in autumn or winter, and note where puddles sit and whether water runs towards the house. Heavy clay holds water near the surface for days; lighter, sandier soil drains much more quickly.
We’d always rather deal with drainage during a redesign, while the ground is already open. Water can be directed into planted beds or a stone-filled soakaway, along a channel drain at the edge of the patio, or through permeable paving that lets rain pass through the surface instead of sitting on it. Adding drainage after a patio has been laid usually means lifting part of it.
4. Access for Materials and Machinery
Access is one of the things we check on every site survey, alongside the levels and drainage, because it shapes how a garden is built and how long the work takes. A side passage wide enough for a small digger and a wheelbarrow means soil can come out and stone can go in without anyone passing through your home. Where the only way in is through a garage or the house itself, every bag of soil and every slab has to be carried by hand, so the build takes longer and floors and doorways need protecting first. If parking on your street is tight, we’ll also want to agree where the skip and the deliveries will go before the first day on site.
5. Your Boundaries and What They Allow
Knowing which fences and walls are yours, and what state they’re in, matters before anything is designed. A tired fence is much easier to replace before new paving and planting go in against it than afterwards.
Height matters as well. Under the General Permitted Development Order, a fence or wall in England can usually be built up to 2 metres high without planning permission, or up to 1 metre where it sits next to a road used by vehicles. Those rights don’t apply around a listed building and can be removed locally, so it’s sensible to check with Warrington Borough Council before raising any boundary.
For more ideas on privacy, see our post: The Best Garden Screening Ideas For Overlooked Gardens.
6. What’s Already Growing in the Garden
Some of what’s growing now is worth keeping, and the planting you inherit can save years of waiting for a new garden to fill out. Before the design starts, it helps to look at what’s growing in two ways: the plants worth keeping, and any trees that may be protected by law.
Plants Worth Keeping
Unless the existing planting is in poor shape, we’d suggest not clearing everything and starting again. A mature tree or a well-established hedge can take many years to replace, and keeping one gives a new garden height and shape from the day it is finished. Deciding which plants to keep before the design starts means the layout can be built around them.
Protected Trees
A Tree Preservation Order can cover a tree of any size or species, and under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, cutting down or lopping a protected tree without the council’s written consent can lead to an unlimited fine. There is no national register, so Warrington Borough Council is the place to ask, and its website has a map of protected trees. Roots matter too, because digging foundations for a wall or patio close to a tree can damage it.
7. How Your Household Will Use the Space
A garden has to suit the way you live as well as the land itself, and with this in mind a family with young children may want open lawn and a clear view from the kitchen window, while a household that entertains in the evening may prefer a larger patio that holds the sun late into the day.
It’s also worth being clear about how much time you want to spend looking after the garden. Deep borders and a large lawn need regular weeding and mowing through the summer, whereas raised planters and lower-maintenance planting cut that work down considerably, so you have more time to enjoy the garden, rather than tending to it.
For more on planning a garden around the way you live, see our post: How a Garden Designer Creates Outdoor Living Spaces.
Why Choose Green Acorn Landscape Design For New Garden
Every garden we design starts with a site survey of the existing landscape, looking at its levels, drainage, access and key features, as part of our garden design service. We then produce a 3D design of your garden before work begins, including a 360 view. Design, construction and planting are handled by one in-house team.
Green Acorn Landscape Design was a BALI National Landscape Awards Principal Award winner in 2020, 2021 and 2023, and we are a Marshalls Register accredited landscape contractor, so we know what your garden needs and how to build it to last.
To learn more about what we offer, see our post: Why Partner with Green Acorn Landscape Design for Your Next Garden Project?
Planning Your Garden Redesign in Warrington
The most useful preparation for a garden redesign in Warrington is a few weeks of watching the garden you already have. Photographs of the light at different times of day and notes on where water sits after rain give a designer far more to work with than a picture from a magazine.
When you’re ready, our free, no obligation consultation and quote is the place to go through them, and we’ll walk the garden with you to look at the levels and the boundaries before any design work starts.
Contact Us Today
To arrange a visit and talk through your garden before anything is designed, call us on 01925 598 800 or send a message through our contact page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Long Does a Garden Redesign Take to Build?
That depends on the size of the garden and how much groundwork it needs. A plot with changes in level and retaining walls takes longer to build than a flat garden that is being re-paved and replanted. We give you a timescale during the consultation, once we’ve seen the garden.
Can a Garden Redesign Be Done in Stages?
A garden can be built in stages, provided the whole design is drawn up first. Drainage and any ducting for lighting are best laid in the first stage, because adding them later usually means lifting new paving. Planting is often the easiest part to leave until later.
Will a New Patio Need Planning Permission?
A patio in the back garden doesn’t normally need planning permission. At the front, under the General Permitted Development Order, a new or replacement hard surface over 5 square metres between the house and the road must be permeable or drain to a permeable area within the garden. These rights can be removed locally, so it’s worth checking with Warrington Borough Council first.
What Happens to the Soil and Waste From the Garden?
Anyone taking soil and old paving away as part of their business must be a registered waste carrier. Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, you also have a duty of your own to make sure your waste only goes to someone authorised to take it, and you can check a carrier for free on the Environment Agency’s public register before anything is loaded.