1.3 Existing Garden Features Flashcards
Site Appraisal:
Records the existing conditions and characteristics of the site. It is an assessment of the character and possibility.
Not measurement! (although soil pH and conditions may be recorded).
A general assessment of the site by the designer.
Recording of the existing physical, aesthetic and environmental factors relevant to the design process.
The level of detail is project dependent but as a minimum it is an exercise to acquaint the designer with the significant characteristics of the site.
Usually involves a rough sketch with relevant features recorded and identified.
Features to be Recorded during Site appraisal…
- Site access and boundaries
- Existing areas eg. Meadow, Orchard, Wild, Lawn.
- Buildings and structures, what and where
- Hard Landscape, what and where (possibility of repurposing materials)
- existing Trees and significant plants, notes of species, size, condition, historical significance, TPOs
- obvious services below and above ground (full detailed gained through a site survey)
- Bye-laws, regulations, conservation areas, listed buildings status, rights of way, other restrictions
Characteristics to be recorder during Site appraisal…
- Orientation and aspect (eg. South Facing slope within North facing garden), altitude, topography (contours)
- Views (good or bad) or obstruction to views, borrowed landscape
- Evidence of microclimate, light, shade, dry South facing wall, frost pockets, rain shadows
- Soil type, pH, moisture content, depth and site variation
- Drainage within site, wet/dry areas
Site Appraisal Methods
- Look and record what you find, hard-work
- Use questionnaires, ask the clients and any others with good site knowledge (though worth checking)
- Photographic records, google earth, historical photographs
- Council records for planning, TPOs, conservation areas
- Utility service company records
Services Implications on Garden Design and Planning…
Overhead cables: Access and working height restrictions
Underground Services: Rooting depth, Manhole locations (for access & appearance)
Avoiding digging cables/pipes but also they may be damaged by vibration and soil movement and compaction.
Role of the Designer
Deliver the list of wishes outlined in the brief, from the material and characteristics of the site as discovered in the site appraisal and shown in the site survey.
With the required style and within an approved budget.
Brief to be quantifiable… eg. a patio, greenhouse.
Not unquantifiable eg. “wow factor”.
The submitted design is the designers response to the clients brief
Why is it necessary to identify the existence of overhead and underground services?
Drainage, water, sewage, gas, oil, electricity, cable tv.
- Undergound services may limit where excavations or planting can be made safely.
- Overground cables may restrict site access for equipment or large machinery
- Implications of disrupting services could be risk to health and safety in addition to, cost, inconvenience and soil damage
