Planting Design in Surrey
Paul Studholme, founder of The Plant Hunter, offers planting design as a standalone service for residential gardens across Surrey.
The Plant Hunter specialises in planting schemes built around soil type, aspect, and plant behaviour over time: whether that is a new scheme from scratch, a replanting of a garden that has stopped working, or solving a specific problem such as dry shade, waterlogging, or screening without hard structures. The Plant Hunter is based in East Horsley and works across Cobham, Weybridge, Guildford and the surrounding villages.
Who this is for: clients who already have a garden layout and need plant expertise applied to it, or who have a specific planting problem to solve. Not a full garden redesign service; for that, see Garden Design.
What planting design is, and what it is not
Planting design is not an afterthought applied to a finished layout. It is a discipline in its own right: choosing the right plants for the conditions, spacing them for how they will grow in five years rather than how they look on the day of planting, and building a scheme that holds together through the seasons.
The Plant Hunter offers planting design as a standalone service, for clients who already have a garden layout, or who want a planting-focused redesign of what is already there, and need plant expertise applied to it rather than a full garden redesign from scratch.
Planting design does not involve redesigning a layout, changing levels, adding hard landscaping, or altering the structure of a garden. If those are the issues, see the Garden Design page.
When clients come to Paul for planting only
Most requests fall into one of three situations:
A garden that has been landscaped but never properly planted. The structure is there. The beds exist. But nothing is working, either because the planting was selected without real plant knowledge, because beds are too small to do anything with, or because the wrong plants are in the wrong places.
An established garden that has run out of momentum. Planting that made sense 10 years ago has become overcrowded, overgrown or simply boring. The bones are still there; the planting just needs to be taken apart and rebuilt.
A specific problem that planting can solve such as screening a neighbour without building a fence, creating interest in dry shade under a mature tree, or getting colour and structure through wet winters and dry summers. These are plant problems that need plant knowledge to solve.
Gardens and the conditions that shape them
Soil across the area varies considerably.
Some gardens have heavy clay, others sit on free-draining chalk, while some enjoy fertile loam over deeper clay. Chalk and clay are almost opposite problems; one holds water, the other sheds it, and they call for different plants. What causes the most consistent planting problems is not always the soil type alone.
The pattern that catches most gardens out is waterlogging in winter and bone dry in summer. New planting put in without considering drainage and moisture retention can suffer badly through its first season.
The pattern that catches most gardens out is waterlogging in winter and bone dry in summer. New planting put in without considering drainage and moisture retention can suffer badly through its first season.
Reliable performers that carry through both conditions include Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' for structure and year-round presence, Nepeta for sustained colour with low maintenance, and Persicaria for ground-level coverage in difficult conditions. Betula utilis is used where a light-canopied specimen tree is needed, and Erigeron karvinskianus can be incorporated as a self-seeding filler that works in gaps and at path edges.
Chalk is the opposite problem to clay. The soil is shallow, alkaline and sheds water almost as fast as it arrives, so borders that looked full in June can be dry and tired by August, and new planting needs seeing through its first summer. The plants that perform are the ones built for dry, alkaline ground. Nepeta, Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’ and Erigeron all thrive on it. Hardy geraniums and Knautia carry colour at ground level, Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ holds structure through the year, and Trachelospermum clothes a warm wall. Betula utilis and Pittosporum cope well, and Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’ manages happily where many hydrangeas sulk. Olives genuinely love chalk and do very well where the drainage is honest. What fails is anything ericaceous: rhododendrons, camellias and heathers need acid soil, and on chalk they decline slowly no matter how much care they get.
Dry shade under existing trees is a persistent challenge. The canopy intercepts rainfall and tree roots take what remains. The only real solution is irrigation; enough of it to effectively make dry shade into wet shade. Vinca minor, Pachysandra terminalis, and Helleborus orientalis are the plants that actually perform in those conditions. Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' and Geranium 'Rozanne' work well where there is good light and the soil retains moisture.
Deer and rabbit pressure is a factor on the rural edges of East Horsley and parts of the Cobham catchment. Where deer are active, plant selection narrows considerably. Paul works around this from the outset rather than treating it as a separate conversation.
Very hot, sunny corners against warm walls need plants that can handle periods of real heat and drought. Erigeron, Nepeta, thyme, and rosemary all perform in these conditions with good drainage and appropriate irrigation during establishment.
The planting design process
A planting scheme starts with a site visit. Paul walks the garden, looks at aspect and light at different times of day, assesses the soil, and identifies what is already there and worth keeping.
From there, he draws up a planting plan: a detailed document naming every plant, its position, spacing and quantities. This is what gets handed to whoever plants the scheme, whether that is Paul himself or an existing gardener.
Paul can supply and plant the scheme directly, working through established supplier relationships to source plants at the right stage of maturity. Or the plan can be supplied to the client to plant at their own pace. The approach depends on what the garden needs and what the client prefers.
Planting design alongside irrigation
In gardens with persistent dry spots, under tree canopies, against south-facing walls, or where the soil dries out badly in summer, Paul typically recommends specifying irrigation alongside the planting scheme. A scheme planted without reliable water in year one loses plants unnecessarily. The irrigation is designed around what is being grown and where. See the Irrigation page for details.
What planting design alone does not include
This service works within the existing garden layout. It does not cover redesigning a layout, changing levels, adding hard landscaping, or altering the structure of a garden. If those are the issues, Garden Design is the right starting point.
There is sometimes overlap; a planting scheme for a recently built garden may involve small adjustments to bed sizes or the position of a path edge, and Paul will say so. But the starting point for planting design is: the layout is fixed, and the question is what grows in it.
Discuss your planting
If your garden is not performing as it should, get in touch. Paul can assess whether the issue is planting alone, or whether the garden structure itself needs rethinking.
Call Paul: 07774 259570
Frequently Asked Questions
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No. Planting design works within an existing layout. Garden design covers the whole garden: structure, levels, hard landscaping and planting. If you are unsure which you need, the first conversation usually makes it clear.
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Either. Paul can produce a planting plan that you or your gardener works from, or he can supply and plant the scheme directly. He will advise on which makes more sense for the project.
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Both. A lot of planting design work is on established gardens that have run out of momentum or have specific problems to solve: dry shade, waterlogging, deer pressure or screening. New-build gardens are a different challenge, but the process is the same.
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Primarily across Surrey including East Horsley, Cobham, Weybridge, Virginia Water, Guildford and the surrounding villages.
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In gardens with persistent dry spots or where summer drought is a consistent problem, Paul typically recommends it for the establishment period. He will advise after seeing the site. See the Irrigation page for more.