Garden design · Royal Tunbridge Wells
I'm Chris Wild. I design private gardens from Royal Tunbridge Wells, across Kent and East Sussex. Every design begins with a proper survey — levels, soil, aspect, what's worth keeping — because a garden drawn without knowing the ground is a garden that gets rebuilt twice.
The design process · five stagesConsultation · survey · concept · master plan · buildNothing is drawn before the ground is measured, and nothing is built before it is drawn. See how a commission runs →
A finished Chris Wild garden — from Chris's own project photographs
Five stages
consultation to build
5.0★
rated on Google
PG Dip, Distinction
British Academy of Garden Design
Kent & East Sussex
where I work
How I work
I read Geology and Geography at the University of Brighton before I ever drew a garden, and it has quietly shaped everything since. Soil, levels, drainage and aspect are not the dull bit before the nice bit — they are the reason one scheme thrives and an almost identical one two streets away sulks for five years.
So the second stage of every commission is a full topographical survey: landforms, existing planting and trees, buildings, structures and services, measured up into a scaled base plan. Soil samples and aspect go in alongside it. Only then do the concept drawings start.
The practice is just me. The person who walks your garden on the first visit is the person surveying it, drawing the concept, colouring the master plan and standing in the garden with the contractor while it is built. Nothing gets handed on and nothing gets lost.
Training
What I do
Some gardens want the whole sequence, right through to a coordinated build. Plenty stop at the master plan and go out to their own landscaper. Either is a sensible way to do it — as long as the garden was designed properly first.
01
Your requirements for the space, the style and themes you're drawn to, colour palettes and budget — turned into an agreed brief.
02
A full topographical survey — landforms, planting, trees, buildings, structures and utilities — measured into a scaled base plan.
03
The first presentation of the vision — 2D drawings, elevation sketches and mood boards — then a second consultation to refine it.
04
The final design drawn to scale in full colour, with planting plans, construction plans and elevation drawings.
05
Project coordination with third-party contractors, working with Trenton Landscapes and their twenty-plus years of installation experience.
Not sure how much design you need?
Ring and describe the garden. I'll tell you honestly whether it wants the full process or simply a planting plan and a good contractor.
Call 07771 925379How a design runs
In that order, and for a reason. The brief is agreed before anything is measured, the ground is measured before anything is drawn, and the drawings are finished before anyone quotes for building it.
01
We talk through how you want to use the space, the style and themes you're drawn to, colour palettes and budget — and agree a shared brief.
02
A full topographical survey of landforms, planting, trees, buildings, structures and services, worked up into a scaled base plan.
03
The first presentation of the vision — 2D drawings, elevation sketches and mood boards — then a second consultation to refine it together.
04
A scale-drawn, full-colour final plan, with planting plans, construction plans and elevation drawings for accurate implementation.
05
Project coordination with third-party contractors — including Trenton Landscapes, who bring over twenty years of garden installation experience.
Gardens
A steel pergola set at the far end of a long garden, reached by rectangular stepping stones laid through the lawn. Borders of grasses, persicaria and hydrangea narrow the view and pull the eye to the seating at the top.
A pale sandstone path running the length of an enclosed town garden between deep mixed borders — catmint, box, Stipa and multi-stem birch — with a timber pergola and a planted pot closing the far end.
A change of level handled as a design feature rather than a problem: broad stone steps rising from a planted lower garden to a raised deck, with alliums and cow parsley loosening the edges of dark rendered walls.
The approach
Soil, levels, drainage and aspect are settled before a single line is drawn. It is unglamorous and it is the reason a scheme still looks composed in its fifth year rather than its first. A garden designed on assumptions gets rebuilt; a garden designed on measurements gets enjoyed.
Any garden looks generous in June. The real measure is what you can see from the kitchen window in February — evergreen structure, considered shapes, bark and stems and seedheads doing the work. Structure goes on the plan before anything that flowers.
How you cross a garden decides how much of it you use. Stepping stones through lawn, a path that sets a pace, a terrace placed where the evening light actually falls — these are layout decisions, and they matter more than the plant list to how often the back door gets opened.
Three of something used five times down a border reads as a scheme. One of everything reads as a collection: interesting close up, restless from the house. A planting plan sets species, quantities and spacings so a border can be sourced and priced as a list rather than bought in a panic on a Saturday.
A master plan that a contractor can price and set out is worth more than a beautiful sketch that has to be interpreted. Construction plans and elevations exist so that decisions are made on the drawing board, not improvised on site with a digger idling.
There is no studio to be passed around. The designer who walks your garden is the one who surveys it, draws the concept, writes the planting plan and coordinates the build. Small practice, single thread — and a client who always knows who to ring.
In their words
A one-man practice, so these are clients rather than a wall of testimonials. Reviews are pulled live from Chris's Google profile.
“We are absolutely delighted with the incredible transformation of our garden… What was once an awkward, sloped hill has been completely reimagined into a beautifully tiered garden that's both functional and visually stunning.”
“Chris Wild Garden Design was a real find! … very responsive to ideas whilst giving plenty of knowledgable, professional feedback… His final presentation went above and beyond sourcing details like pots and furniture to compliment the scheme.”
Where I work
Home and drawing board are in Royal Tunbridge Wells, and most commissions sit within comfortable reach of it. Gardens in the portfolio have taken me to Tonbridge, Hadlow, Otford, Tatsfield and into South London, and work further out across Kent and East Sussex is very welcome. If you are not sure whether you are in reach, the quickest thing is to ring and ask.
Thinking about your garden?
Ring Chris, or send a few photographs and he'll come back to you. Monday to Friday, 9am – 5.30pm.
