Do you need some expert advice on how to transform your garden or green space into the wildlife-friendly haven of your dreams? Maybe you are a potential backyard farmer but don’t know where to start? Perhaps you want the best of both these worlds? Get it touch to discuss how we can help.

This new service caters for households, community groups in need of support to realise a project, and organisations that want to improve the biodiversity and fruitfulness of their land.

Regather's garden design service brings ecological planting and practical approaches to food production together. Whether you are thinking of growing your own vegetables, planting fruit trees, building a pond or making a meadow, we can show you how to combine the elements that create a vibrant and biodiverse garden or green space.

Garden Consultation

Our garden designer arranges to visit your garden and provides a verbal consultation, where you take the notes. A printed base map of your garden is provided for this purpose.

Got questions about problem weeds? Want to know the best spot to plant a tree? Need advice on where to put a pond?

The duration of each visit depends on garden size and complexity, although the average time is 90 minutes. An hour is the minimum.

Within this package you will receive our ’Essential Plants’ list, of tried and tested low-maintenance food and wildlife plants. With 70+ plants selected for shade or sun, wet or dry soil, and prioritising native species, this list will help you get your garden project off to a great start.

Garden consultation price: £40 for the first hour, £30 thereafter.

A simple garden design for Mind Sheffield, using edible and aromatic herbs to create a sensory garden. In collaboration with Arts Catalyst.

A simple garden design with wildlife attracting plants, inspired by the adjacent woodland, plus edible herbs, fruit trees and salad leaves.

A simple garden design featuring plants for a difficult shady area, a new fruit tree, veg patches and a container pond.

Simple Garden Design

Our designer walks with you around your garden, discussing your needs, what you want to achieve and what is possible.

A typical visit is around 90 minutes long, although it depends on garden size and the nature of the project.

At this stage a draft plan is produced, based upon a site survey that takes lighting and other conditions into account. This is then interpreted into a simple garden plan, which will include the following elements:

planting mixes by area
spot planting: trees & shrubs
ponds, new structures, raised beds & more…

Plus you will receive a copy of our ’Essential Plants’ list.

Garden design pricing is based on garden size:

£200 for up to 100m2
£235 / 200m2
£270 / 300m2
£320 / 400m2
£365 / 500m2

For larger plots get in touch for a quote.

A simple garden design using planters to maximise the growing area of a small and raised patio. Plus a section drawing illustrating planter construction detail.

sunny cottage garden - simple garden design plus detailed planting plan - regather 2022

A simple garden design for a rural cottage, using classic wildlife-attracting perennial plants. Plus two areas of detailed planting design with exact planting positions.

Tailored Garden Design

This service has been developed for schools, community groups and other organisations who have land but need advice before they realise their gardening ambitions.

Includes standard elements from the Simple Garden Design package, plus options for:

detailed planting plans with exact positions
crop rotation plans
maintenance schedules
plant uses/description tables
practical planting workshops

As this is a bespoke service that is designed to meet specific requirements. For a quote. please get in touch, using the form below.

Meet our garden designer

Fran Halsall has been gardening since the age of ten, beginning with a herb patch that ignited her interest in ‘useful’ plants. It was a passion for both nature and design that led Fran to study for an MA in Landscape Architecture at The University of Sheffield.

Fran's speciality is ecological design and landscape management, meaning that she is capable of working at all scales: from back gardens to public parks. Having designed two community growing spaces, for Kenwood Community Growers and for Food Works, Fran is well versed in getting the maximum potential from the land.

Fran combines in-depth plant knowledge, including how wildlife interacts with different species, with practically-focused design. This approach will help you to get the most out of your plot, whatever its size.

Area of service coverage

If your garden or project lies within four miles of the city centre, then mileage is included in the price.

We do serve areas beyond this boundary, however mileage will be charged for each mile outside the service area. This is to reflect both the additional travel time and increasing cost of fuel.

Other examples of our garden designers work

edible and perennial small raised bed at israac community centre

Israac Somali Centre planters

Israac is located on a busy junction of Cemetery Road. Where better to install some edible raised beds for engaging passersby with the idea of food in urban landscapes?

This was a design and build project created through Regather's community gardening volunteer sessions that took place in 2021.

Food Works farm

The farm is a large allotment-sized plot at Green Estate on The Manor. It produces nature-friendly food for use in Food Works' community kitchens.

In the space of just under a year, this volunteer-powered project went from weed-covered patch to a high-yielding plot using a crop rotation system. The 2021 total yield was 830kg!

Pond making workshop

Heeley and Meersbrook Allotment Society commissioned a hands-on practical wildlife pond building workshop.

The pond was designed following criteria that make it suitable for hibernating frogs. Selected plants were all native species suitable for a small low-maintenance pond.