Sod's Law

One of the biggest challenges of being a garden designer is overcoming the seasons. You only have to compare the level of work we had in the spring with that of today to see that. That's not to say we're not busy - we do a lot of garden maintenance work at this time of year, as well as planting spring bulbs which weren't available during the summer.

But there's no avoiding the fact that spring and summer are manic for garden designers. Ideally, we'd like to spread the workload evenly throughout the year. The main problem with that is getting people to concentrate on their gardens during autumn and winter. 

It's understandable that most people shut the door, mentally and physically, on their gardens when it's cold and dark and the grass doesn't need mowing. But if you think about it, autumn and winter are the perfect time to start planning for next year. Surveying and designing can be done without the pressure of knowing that it's perfect planting weather outside, and you really should be making the most of it. Everything can be agreed, ordered and raring to go as soon as the weather allows in the new year. 

That's how it would be in a perfect world. In reality the phone doesn't start ringing until easter or once Gardeners' World starts on the TV, which ever comes first.