What questions does a designer ask when planning a garden? Paul Riding, UK

I am currently studying National diploma in Horticulture. I have received a project in design principles. I hoped you could give me some advice. I am to design a questionnaire for the initial visit to the client to gain info about what they are wanting out of the garden. I was wondering what type of questions to ask. Upto now I have asked questions like what the main use of the garden is, if they are wanting a focal point in the garden or if the garden is to be used for entertaining guests. Could you suggest some further questins that i could ask. cheers Paul Riding
Forum (Hugh): Dear Paul, Design Principles! There is no short answer – as every garden and their problems are different, with the owner / clients being individuals – to generalize on such a questionnaire would be cutting your design ability short. For example – to ask if they ‘want a focal point’ you should first consider the uses of a Focal Point to draw the ‘eye’ as part of your design concept for that specific garden. Is your focal point vegetable or mineral? Is it strong or light weight? To develop this concept is part of your job as a designer – to decide what or where (if at all), a focal point, or points, are required to help make your design work. As objects and plants can be used as Focal Points, you may therefore safely enquire what object and plants the clients like in general terms, that is before you have surveyed the garden and determined the site problems. Have a look at the pages on my site www.ukgardendesigner.com and ask your friends to do the same. Consider each of the projects that are illustrated and see if you all have the same ideas as to what the client requirements and design solutions for those projects are. I hope that you all have different contributions to make. Look at as many gardens as you can and discuss with your fellow students – generate ideas amongst yourselves. Furthermore, from experience, I would say you cannot fully determine the garden design principles in the first visit, and only during, and after doing, the survey can you start to understand the problems. Only then will you be able to apply those Design Principles as an integral part of your design solution. Hope this helps Best Regards Hugh O’Connell