Learning about inspiring garden design

I'm lucky to be able to share a co-working space (Herdwork in Kirkby Lonsdale) with some lovely and amazingly talented people. One of them is Sonja Kalkschmidt, who runs Silva Vista an Award-winning, Garden & Landscape Design studio.

I've been fascinated and intrigued by the beautiful sketches she has around her desk space, so asked if I could hear more about what goes into a garden design. I was naturally drawn to make comparisons to the process of building a website, which I'll reflect on in this article, as well as just appreciating how amazing Sonja's work is.

Pen and paper / planning

Much like the first steps for me in development work, Sonja starts with some sketches (although infinitely better than anything I do). These are overlaid onto topography-type maps as well so she can better understand what considerations might be needed based on the landscape features of the garden.

Even though only the initial stage of the process, that the client does not see, I love the detail of the sketches and visual style of them. You can almost to start visualise how things might look just based off of them.

Before starting the design or development of a new site, feature, page, component etc, I also try to start with a sketch. This allows me to jot down any early considerations and make some early decisions on rough layout etc.

This stage can speed up process when it comes to higher-fidelity designs and plans and give me a clearer idea on the processes and outcomes of the work I'm doing.

Moving to more high-fidelity

Into prototype

Going live

All asset credit to Sonja Kalkschmidt and Silva Vista.