The perfect retreat (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

The perfect retreat

A garden should be a place of contemplation, relaxation and, above all enjoyment, says Cotswold-based garden designer Nick Dickinson.

With some careful planning and designing it is possible to create that perfect retreat whatever its original shape or size.

Sometimes less can be more and with careful planting a simple design can lead to a beautiful garden which can be enjoyed for many years. During his 28 year career, Nick has designed and built some 2,500 gardens all over the country.

He started gardening in the late 1970s at the age of 15 before it was fashionable and later attended Merrist Wood College in Guildford where he qualified as a landscape technician.

"In the early days I was weeding and clearing gardens and it was wonderful. I didn't know then that 15 or 20 years later it would be a very sought-after profession."

After graduating, Nick went to London to set up a garden design business and designed many gardens all over the capital including the roof gardens at the Dorchester Hotel.

He later set up his own business, Gardens, and moved to a house in the village of Poulton near Cirencester with his wife Cathy and son Piers, 11.

Since then the business has really taken off and Nick has worked on a range of exciting and interesting projects. He even designed a walled garden at an old castle in North Yorkshire based on an 18th century design.

"It was a tumble down castle on the top of a hill and there was a rumour there had been an old walled garden there. After doing lots of research I discovered an 18th century map which showed where trees were planted and where the garden was and eventually we managed to recreate it."

Garden design has become increasingly popular since the birth of television makeover programmes like BBC's Ground Force, but Nick says that often these shows fail to find out exactly what the client wants, instead they come up with winning designs for the cameras.

"The role of the good designer, unlike the popular television image, is to listen, absorb and prompt for information from the client. We will spend lots of time over the design and the client and myself stay in charge of the whole project from start to finish.

"It is a popular myth that a garden designer will run away with a project that will inevitably cost the earth to install. It's very exciting and fulfilling.

Even in a small garden, with some clever screening you can create three or four areas so you could have a children's area and a grown up area, for example. Gardens just get better over the years."

Nick, who recently moved to Driffield, also does the planting and can source an array of unusual plant varieties that can't be found in garden centres. He has just set up a new plant delivery service offering unusual plants from an extensive list and the help of a planting specialist.

Nick favours simplicity, boldness and all year round interest in a garden but designs whatever his clients want. He hopes they will then enjoy it for years to come.

"It's all about indulgence and opening the French windows and enjoying yourself."

Nick can be contacted by telephone on 01285 851020. His website is: www.nickdickinson.com