Part 2: Surveying
4. Client brief
When you first meet with a client you should:
- ask a list of questions in order to understand what your client wants from their garden
- accurately record the responses
- send a copy to the client after the meeting to make sure they agree with what you have written and haven’t changed their minds about anything or forgotten to include something.
Examples of questions
Who uses the garden and what for? (Children playing, adults entertaining, elderly or disabled access, dogs, chickens etc).
Are there any current features you would like to retain?
Do you have/use your lawn? (Sometimes a lawn can be removed or reduced to make room for other desirable features).
Would you like to grow vegetables/fruit/herbs?
What are your favourite plants? Any favourite colours?
Do you prefer a certain style of garden? (Cottage, formal, informal, Japanese etc).
Do you need a bin store/washing line/shed/greenhouse/compost bin etc?
Are there certain times of day that you use the garden? (They may want a sunny spot to sit in for morning coffee, or a patio in the evening sun for barbeques for example).
Would you like water to be included in the garden?
Take a list of basic questions with you which you can use as a prompt to make sure you don’t forget anything, but let the client take the lead if they feel happy to describe what they would like. You may not be the first designer they have met with and they might be well practised by the time you meet them.
Sometimes taking pictures of different types of gardens with you is a useful prompt for clients who struggle to imagine or describe what they like – they can then point to things and tell you what they like and don’t like.
Try to make sure that all the main users of the garden are present for the meeting so that you hear everyone’s opinion and can try to make sure any disagreements between users are settled before you start designing.