Lazing in the garden with friends and family is an important ritual not to be missed out on during the long, and hopefully hot, days this summer.

When considering your garden design, it is important to take the needs of the users of your space - you, your family and friends - in to account to make the experience a comfortable and inviting one which will have them wanting to come back for more.

A simple checklist can be used to make sure you've thought of all the factors which could make or break your outdoor entertaining space this summer.

Aspect. It is important to locate your terrace, deck or patio in a warm, sunny position. I find that often afternoon gatherings soon lead on to evening ones, so it is best to have a position which receives the last of the evening sun and if possible much of the afternoon.

Make it easy for your guests. You don't want your guests traipsing long distances to the fridge or toilet, nor do you want to be far away from the action when preparing the food, so think carefully about location. Ideally position your space close to or with good access to the kitchen or main exit from the house. Make sure access to, from in and around the entertaining area is considered too. Make a feature of changes in levels such as steps, and also ensure they are easy to negotiate when it's dark, by illuminating them after dusk.

Scale and furnishing. To provide ultimate comfort for your guests it is important to furnish the area correctly. Similarly to inside your home, terraces should be well sized to allow an appropriate table and seating to be incorporated.

Engage the senses. Naturally, planting should be attractive and inspirations, as well as in keeping with the rest of the garden. Summer scent and colour are always on people's wish list but it is also important to consider all year round structure and form of the planting. In design terms we sometimes consider planting as the walls of the outside room we are creating and often in such a space, overhead planes or your ‘ceiling' is created from either trees or arbours. Providing this sense of enclosure to your space will keep your guests content, as they will have a similar feeling to being in a living or dining room.

Now all that is required is good food, conversation and a barbeque. Who needs to go on holiday when England is this good!

Christopher James BA Hons, PG Dip OCGD. Landscape Designer.

Many of the enquiries coming in over the last two weeks have been from people who, quite frankly, have been disappointed with their efforts in their garden, and realise if they don't do something soon then another year will have passed them by.

Typically, lack of colour or poor plant associations are number one on the list, followed by screening issues and how to block out those noisy neighbours once and for all. So while now is not necessarily the best time to plant, providing you have the capacity to water through the hottest periods, you can still carry on and add some well needed extras.

Roses are now coming into bloom, so it's a great time to check out colours ‘live', either in the garden centre, or at somewhere inspirational like the rose gardens at Wisley. Garden centres and nurseries are now selling the annual infill plants, and while geraniums and busy lizzies may not be your thing, look out for multi coloured cosmos, a fast growing repeat flowering annual that seems to associate with practically anything. The stocky dwarf sunflowers give fantastic spot colour, fascinating for kids and a great source of food for the birds later in the autumn. I am a great fan of Salvias, giving that intense deep purple colour normally associated with lavenders.
 
It is the perfect time to add perennials either as a new bed or, placing them to fit between shrubs that are going over. Rudbeckia is an eye catching yellow, a little like a multi flowering sunflower, but with an intense black eye in the middle. I love Verbena bonariensis which gives you tall delicate purple flowers up to a heavy frost, so if you don't have them, just drop what you are doing and go find! For long bloomers (not on the washing line!) try Hemerocallis (Daylilies), Echinacea purpurea (purple cone flower), Monarda (bergamot), and Perovskia (Russian sage).
 
Don't forget that many of your herbaceous plants will repeat flower if you cut them back hard after flowering. Among these are Achillea (yarrow) and many herbaceous geraniums (cranesbills).
 
In the unlikely event that we have a decent summer, there are some wonderful climbers that really take off and thrive. Annuals such as morning glory, cardinal vine, black eyed Susan and the night blooming moonflower vine, along with the vibrant summer blooming and perennial Campsis radicans (trumpet vine).

It's still not too late to look for later flowering summer bulbs, now for sale potted on, look out for dahlias, Gladiolus and tuberose for a sunny spot. For shade try something different like a caladium along with tuberous bergonias.

And once you have done all that, get the Pimms out and enjoy.

There is a quite an odd feeling at the start of this season, and while Easter is about as early as it can get, Spring has never been later. Up on the hillside here the crocuses are doing their stuff, but still no sign of a daffodil flower that for me heralds the onset of Spring.

I think this year is going to be the year of the veggie patch. Dinner parties in the Shires are alive with chat on such technicalities as how early can you put your spuds in, and whether to go for onion sets or seed.

Grow your own doesn't have to be dull and as a designer, it's great fun to actively put in edible crops without the need to turn a back garden into one big allotment. Many vegetables lend themselves to being grown in existing shrub beds, try Swiss Chard and Rhubarb and Fennel for some great foliage effects, while lower growing herbs such as rosemary, marjoram and thyme sit perfectly in an English garden theme.

Corners of beds in open sunlight lend themselves to growing leaf vegetables. Sowing lettuce in succession can provide a continual supply right through the summer and you could sow a few nasturtiums for edible flower that can be included in a mixed salad for a nice peppery flavour.
 
Larger areas with a variety of crops require a little more time and thought. Double digging is hard work but will reward you with a friable, oxygenated soil that is good for all. I think the best piece of advice is to use as much well-rotted manure as possible. Dig or rotavate it into the top few inches; it helps improve soil structure and is amazing for the fauna and flora that thrive in the soil. We are incorporating alpaca poo this year, which we have heard is THE BEST muck around. A healthy soil produces healthy plants that are less prone to problems with insects and disease.

Raised beds are an initial outlay, but will reward you with a tidy area that fits well into a landscaped garden. Some of the advantages are a rapidly improving soil structure, mass planting of single varieties that reduce weeds and increase production, oh and if you have children they can have a raised bed each, so no arguing.

Talking of which I am giving each of my 4 kids a slice of the plot this year, and if I can get them off the Wii I will spend some time discussing what they would like to grow, and setting out a plan for the next few months. Will let you know how we got on.

Sitting in our office looking out over a winter wonderland it again reminds me of the amazing extremes of the English weather, and what makes this country so special. The met are predicting that 2010 will be the hottest year to date, so while the last two summers have been on the wet side, fingers crossed this year we're in for a good ‘un.

There isn't that much you can do on a day like today outside, but it does give you an opportunity to do some planning for next year. This could be as simple as getting an extra pot in to grow some strawberries, or as ambitious as a complete garden plan revamp, starting from scratch.

In our office there is nothing more exciting than when a client asks us to do the latter and gives us a relatively blank canvas to work with. A day at Chelsea or Hampton Court reminds us all of the choice and variety of plants and features that are available to make your garden complete. It's a good idea to familiarise yourself with what is out there before you start to put a design together. Here at Graduate Landscapes we offer alternatives that fit the bill; living walls that will enhance a courtyard, or soften an unsightly building and our natural swimming ponds make an environmentally astute choice compared to a conventional chlorine enhanced pool.

There is a massive interest amongst a number of our clients in growing their own food, and it does seem that even in the swishiest properties there is a corner devoted to grow your own. We have recently designed a large vegetable patch and chicken run for one family who are focusing in on food miles and their individual carbon footprint. It's a huge quality of life issue. There is nothing more satisfying than growing your own, and it's something that the whole family can get involved in. It doesn't have to be a complete allotment; for young children a window box or grow bag in a sunny part of the garden will give hours of enjoyment and become an education tool in its own right. Think pollination, reproduction, chemistry, tomatoes from South America, herbs from the Far East. That window box has just turned into a classroom.

Every garden should have at least a few fruit trees, which not only give a great show of flower in the spring, will also produce fruit for jams, wine or a jam "butty". Last year we had the most amazing crop of plums off a very young Victoria plum, and as a family we have got lots of enjoyment from making and giving the jams.

Winter is a great opportunity to take stock of things that aren't working in the garden so we can put them right in time for Spring and Summer. If you can see through into your neighbours garden for instance, make a judgment as to what screening would work well. Each year we are asked to supply and plant dozens of mature trees to instantly hide neighbouring properties and afford a little more privacy for various areas of the garden. Large Magnolias and Mediterranean oaks are an obvious slightly sophisticated choice over the usual conifers, while we have had great results with the native hornbeam which has a very dense head in the winter which affords screening when it has shed its leaves. For lower walls try a variegated holly, or Viburnum tinus which will give you that green backcloth for the showy summer flowers. Talking of which our latest client has just asked us to design a hot fiery border for the summer. Back to the drawing board.

Happy new year from Tony Richards and staff at Graduate Landscapes

When I was young and living in the wilds of Lancashire, we had a garden dominated by blackcurrant bushes. For a week in spring the garden looked absolutely fantastic with fresh lilac green foliage as a background to the pink flowers. This however was small consolation for while the blackcurrant sandwiches were memorably scrummy; the majority of the year was spent staring out over complete blandness. Perhaps it was the deep seated desire to escape from a garden dominated by soft fruit that I eventually took a career in landscape design and construction.

I am in the quite enviable position of spending much of my week looking at gardens that people want to change.  While the reasons for wanting to change are varied, the processes we try to guide them through are similar, so here's my insider's guide to stage one of achieving your dream garden.

The initial meeting is so important and it is always preferable to meet both partners if applicable. Clients vary from knowing exactly their own requirements to not having a clue. I always like to constructively criticise what is already in place, while holding off somewhat if the client has been there for many years!

Structure plays a big part in a garden and I am never fooled by the abundance of colour in late spring. I try to imagine the view once the leaves are off the trees and the frost has had a go. Would I need Prozac to get me through January and February or would I be out there enjoying the maze and winter walk? Many gardens are an absolute anti-climax because we can see them in their entirety as we enter. The element of surprise is paramount and being unable to see all the boundaries from the outset is often an advantage can make the site seem bigger than it actually is.

A good designer needs a design brief, and by asking many questions on lifestyle, future plans, ages of family members and the amount of time available to maintain the finished design, an outline begins to appear. It is then a process of agreeing a fee, often based on the size of the garden and the intricacy of the design. We provide a fixed quote for this process, and if we are employed to construct the garden, offer a discount for gardens we have designed. 

It's important to have some sort of survey done on a site to help move the design process forward. This can range from a back of the envelope, paced out sketch through to a full survey from a professional company complete with satellite positioning, logging the exact position of every gnome. The latter is extremely accurate but often a bit OTT, and so often a cost effective middle ground is to mark the boundaries, trees, buildings etc on the plan, with the help of a laser level for complete accuracy. We are also acutely aware of planning regulations and what can or cannot be done without the appropriate authority.

Mood boards are a useful visual aid to the design process and just as applicable for the garden designer as for the interior designer. They help give a visual of material and plant combinations and vary from plain, chic or angular through to pastel coloured soft and rustic. Client input at this stage is very useful and should be a lot of fun! It is an opportunity to involve the entire family in creating a variety of mood boards for different parts of the garden.

Armed with photos of the site, the survey on computer, a brief from the client, and in my case a jar of pickles (every designer has their own quirks!), we lock ourselves away for perhaps a number of days to come up with a concept plan or two. These are often on CAD (Computer Aided Design) and can be emailed over to the client, or alternatively are created in 3D or freehand. We like to colour them in to provide depth and shade and we have recently even created a clay model of a site to indicate heights and contours in relation to the house.

With plans, mood boards, 3D models, samples and an empty pickle jar, we hope to have enough information to paint the perfect picture to our clients, together with a budget for the likely cost. This can take 2 - 4 weeks depending upon the size and complexity of your project, though we do try to turn things around in 2 weeks if we can.

By this stage, we hope that the client is absolutely focused on his or her requirements, and how our plan can help towards fulfilling those requirements. We hope the plan will be studied in conjunction with hand drawn sketches and Photoshop impressions and any changes and modifications can be highlighted. Back to the darkened room with the pickles and shortly to re- appear with the finished design, together with a detailed planting plan. All the hard work at this stage should pay dividends with a very accurate costing, a clear plan and hopefully a happy client with a FAB garden in the making!

Next time, the build and planting process!  

Every third Thursday of the month my wife disappears off to book club for a few hours leaving me to sort out the kids and generally make a mess of things. Some of the books she brings back are absolute rubbish, none more so than her latest called The Awakening. It is about a village that gets attacked by snakes. Nothing new there I hear you say, and having flicked through it and ready to chuck it, I would agree. Then I read an extract on how incredibly rare it was to be bitten by a snake in the UK and it got me thinking. Despite the odds of winning the lottery being more favourable than those of being bitten by a snake, alas this is what happened to me 2 years ago. Throw into the story that it was in the garden of a celebrity (who will remain nameless) who lives locally, and I think this story is up there with The Awakening if not for disbelieving interest, then for humour.

One of the perks of landscape gardening is that you are constantly bitten or stung by things, whether by insects, plants or the occasional pet. Her delightful Labrador decided one morning to take a large bite out of my right buttock, which left me on the floor with my eyes watering. I don't know how many landscape gardeners have shown their derrière to a female celebrity, but when she refused to believe her beloved dog could do such a thing, my trousers came down showing a large, badly bruised welt. With the reassuring words "well it's never done it before" ringing in my ears, I went to hospital for antibiotics and very nasty tetanus jab.
 
I arrived back in the afternoon and very wisely avoided the dog, who was eyeing me from the kitchen window. I headed off down to the woods were we were thinning out a coppice. It was a hot afternoon and things weren't progressing as quickly as I would have hoped. Being the boss I grabbed a saw and manfully strode into a bramble bush, and straight on to the biggest adder you have ever seen. This thing would have had a black mamba for breakfast and it made short work of me, biting me three times on my bare legs before shooting off into the undergrowth. Cheers mate.
 
It's very interesting to be bitten by a snake. The first feeling is of turning very hot like you have just drunk a strong coffee. This is quickly followed by feeling as if you are going to die. Your pulse races, your throat begins to swell, your legs turn to jelly and you expect the grim reaper to come around the corner at any moment. I was half dragged, half carried through the kitchen door, where my colleagues proudly professed "he s been bitten by a snake now, and he looks like he's going to die". A quick call to NHS Direct and I was being sped to Guildford hospital in an open top Bentley feeling absolutely dreadful.

As I arrived, the crowds at Accident and Emergency were straining for a look, only to be told "back to work guys, it's only a landscape gardener who has been bitten by a snake" as if it happens every day.
I was now a celebrity in my own right. It was a rare opportunity to talk to a snake victim in the UK, and I fielded all manner of questions from junior doctors and eminent surgeons alike. I had a certain reassurance from them that if you are going to die from a snake bite, it's going to be from anaphylactic shock in the first 15 minutes! I wish the snake had told me that at the time.
 
I think the celebrity in question thought that she had some accident prone landscape gardener on her hands but never the less she very kindly invited my wife and I to her summer ball, all proceedings of which went to Chase Hospital, a very worthy cause. In the taxi on the way there, my wife could talk of nothing except her inkling that Simon Cowell from X Factor fame was going to be there. As I stared out of the window admiring the limos, Rolls Royce and assorted helicopters all making their way to the party, I felt a presence on my lip. A very large horsefly had sneaked up and had been feeding on me unawares. My wife turned white as she saw my lip, huge and swelling; horrified that she was going to the ball with the nutty professor. Two minutes later I was walking the red carpet shaking hands with the celebrity couple who looked at me in disbelief as I mumbled with my fat lip that I had just been bitten by a horsefly. You couldn't write it!

We have always had a steady stream of enquiries from people wanting to get into landscape gardening or garden design. A number of these come from city folk, fed up with the rat race and the daily commute to London, who wish for a complete change. Others are either current or recently graduated horticultural students, often from Merrist Wood Horticultural College in Guildford, Surrey, or Sparsholt College near Winchester, Hampshire. This trickle of enquiries is now turning into a major flood with a whole cross section of individuals looking to re- invent themselves as a gardener. On the face of it, gardening in Surrey at this time of the year looks like a pretty good career change, with everything bursting into leaf, young ducks on the pond, everything in the garden is rosy. I take people more seriously when they phone in January, an often bleak, cold month which can be trying even for the most vocational horticulturalist. The issue during the Spring and Summer months is not the weather but the sheer volume of work and the very long days. I personally am in the office at 6am and never get home before 7pm. It makes city hours suddenly look quite tempting!

Anyone whose business is to do with digging holes will be well aware of the fascinating subject of compaction. It goes hand in hand with expansion, and anyone starting off in the landscaping business could save himself a lot of agro and a small fortune by reading up on the subject as soon as possible.

On one of my very early projects I could not understand why the 6 cubic meters of chalk I dug out of a garden in Selborne, Hampshire, managed to fill two and a half skips akin to over 12 cubic meters and why I ended up doing one of my first design and build projects for nothing. The reason of course is the chalk has been compacted over millions of years by thousands of of tons of rock and unsurprisingly is a bit squashed. Dig it out and its volume swells up to 2 times its original, and makes costing and calculations that bit trickier. Conversely when you want to put it back you need proportionately more soil for example to fill that hole as when it is compacted down its volume reduces. We often see examples of uncompacted groundwork's, and anyone who has recently bought a house will see the dips appearing around all but the most carefully prepared drain cover excavations.

Here in Hampshire a huge volume of soil is being moved through the Hindhead tunnel scheme  from the Liphook end to the Thursley end and being used to build a huge ramp up to where the new road will meet the old. The ramp is constructed a metre high at a time and then compacted with the mother of all garden rollers to prevent subsequent shrinkage, movement and cracking.

This is a useful lesson in the garden whether you are putting back large volumes of soil, or just planting a tree, put the soil down in  layers and compact as you go. My dad showed me how to compact a lawn just by walking on it. If you put your toes in the air the pressure on your heel is equivalent to many tonnes per square inch and by continual raking and practicing for the ministry of silly walks you too can have a permanent flat bowling green lawn. Happy days!