My husband and I are absolutely delighted with the garden has Sara designed for us.
We approached Sara for help because the whole of our garden needed a redesign. It mainly consisted of grass lawns and an old slab patio and stepping stone pathways, it was tired and needed a new lease of life. Additionally, problem areas required addressing, such as, a very dry unusable area under a large tree, uneven sloping ground, and contrasting areas of deep shade and full sun. Because of these issues and others, we were unsure of how to tackle the redesign ourselves and ascertain what was realistic and achievable within our budget. Therefore we commissioned Sara to design a new garden and produce a planting plan within a specified budget.
Sara, who is very client focused, listened to our ideas and initial specifications to produce a series of mood boards and draft plans to engender further discussion. Although Sara always listened to our views, with her design experience and know how, she gently stretched our comfort zones by introducing alternative ideas/materials for our consideration, most of which we loved and were incorporated into the final design. (The decking around the tree is one such example, providing a shaded seating area to spectacularly utilise what had been a 'dead' area) .
Sara produced comprehensive final plans and illustrations from which the garden was constructed. Additionally she produced the planting plan which took into account our plant and planting style preferences.
The final result is stunning and all within budget, we love our garden. We cannot recommend Sara highly enough.
- Mrs Stephens
My husband and I moved into a garden maisonette a few years ago. The garden space was basically a square, with a Studio at the end of the garden filling half its width. Looking at the garden from the house there was a wonderful tree fern and palm tree in the left hand bed. Ugly railway sleepers ran down the edge of this bed. The flower bed opposite was on a level with the grass with concrete slabs between the bed and grass lawn. There were concrete slabs laid next to the studio creating a raised terrace and other ugly features. There was very little planted in the beds and my husband and I didn’t know where to start.
Sara had been recommended to me by a friend and her design and layout, the materials she suggested transformed the garden. She came up with the perfect design to make the space more interesting, and also sent us information and photographs suggesting plants. She visited us regularly to check up on how our builders were progressing. She was always on time, full of good ideas and knowlegable about materials. For instance suggesting using composite decking instead of wood for the terrace and path. This has been a great success as it doesn’t get dirty. For the path she suggested that we left gaps between each plank and filled them with stones, which look very attractive. Friends who visit us often say what a really terrific design we have for a small London garden. We would have no hesitation in recommending her.
- Mrs Jeal
Sara is working with us to develop a large scale garden for our co-working space and business centre in Barcombe. It has from the very start been a real pleasure to work with Sara. She is very good at listening to what we as clients want, but she also puts her own views across confidently yet sensitively, based on her experience. The work is being undertaken in stages and Sara has proved to be flexible and adaptable in relation to helping us work to our budget. We are extremely happy with the bee and butterfly friendly planting plan she put in place for our heavy clay soil and it is impressive how well the plants have taken in a short space of time. In our experience, Sara is a reliable, professional, knowledgeable and friendly garden designer with a true passion for plants and design. She is able to combine flair with practical and functional solutions in an impressive way. We highly recommend Sara Ekstrand Garden Design.
- Mrs Greenwood
Sara and her team did a terrific job on my front garden. She transformed it and was so lovely to work with, so caring of the planting and sensitive to the area, a true joy to work with. Anyone who has her services is very fortunate!
- Christine Park
Sara transformed my ugly duckling of a garden into a beautiful swan! Working with Sara was a total pleasure. I am no gardener and Sara somehow took my vague ideas and turned them into a garden I could never have imagined. She managed the perfect balance of listening and suggesting, to end up with a garden I absolutely love! I highly recommend Sara!
- Cath Jackson
