I've had a busy period of planting recently which coincided with some very nice weather. Planting is the best bit for me - it's a joy to spend the day outside doing it and you finally get to see your design brought to life and framed by lush greenery.

In this client's garden I suggested putting in two larger beds off the terrace and made them quite deep to create more of a sense of drama and to reflect the shape of the house. In terms of planting I took my client along to Architectural Plants to get a feel for what she wanted and together we chose a palette of evergreen shrubs and grasses. I also suggested clearing all the undergrowth under the Magnolia tree to show off its stunning multi-stem shape to full effect. Below are a mixture of sketches, the final planting plan and some before and after shots.

Existing view of the house from the rear garden with very little in the way of planting

A sketch of the proposed wide and deep beds to frame the terrace steps and to be more in proportion with the house

The existing view from the terrace out on to the rear garden with some wayward shrubs under the Magnolia tree that needed to go

A sketch of the proposed beds and the Magnolia tree

The final planting plan with full list of plants and their placement. I produce these designs to scale using Vectorworks software.

Setting out the plants pre-planting. It was a very hot day but luckily I had some help from Mick and Toby from Lawns & Leaves a local design and maintenance company — Setting out the plants pre-planting. It was a very hot day but luckily I had some help from Mick and Toby from Lawns & Leaves a local design and maintenance company

Half way through planting one of the beds...

All the plants planted... a long, hot day, but a fantastic way to spend time working. Client was happy too.