As autumn approaches our thoughts turn to tidying, planting and even redesigning our gardens. A fabulous garden can greatly improve a property’s potential so what should you ask a professional and make sure you’re getting the best service and inspirational ideas?

We all lead busy lives these days and only few of us are brave enough to attempt building a whole new garden from scratch. Whilst many of us are able to plant a garden and even turn our hand to putting up a shed or digging a border some of the larger jobs like walls, water features and lighting are best left to a professional who can provide a fast, efficient, professional service. And how do you bring this all together? Well that’s the job of a garden design professional.

Designers come in all shapes and forms and can provide anything from a short on-site consultancy to full construction and planting services. A good garden designer will take time to work closely with you, discovering what makes you tick, offering a variety of solutions and recommending the best way of meeting your individual requirements. How can you tell which ones best for you when you meet them? Well here are some tips for when you first approach a garden designer.

• How long have they been established? Some designers may not have the breadth of experience you really need. When its your own garden and the job can be very messy its good to know that the design and contractor have proved himself on plenty of other projects.
• Is the garden designer a Registered Member of the Society of Garden Designers? They’ll have been assessed by their professional body and are a good guarantee of professionalism and competency.
• A good designer will have great contractors and be able to recommend contractors whom they have worked with for many years – a great guarantee of quality.
• Do they charge a call out fee? Some designers will ask for a fee before they’ll come and see you. If you do pay a fee make sure you check out their website first. Do they really create the sort of garden that inspires you? Not all designers charge an initial fee and when you do meet them see if they explain budgets and fees and give you some initial ideas that inspire you before you commit to a full design.
• What sort of aftercare can you expect? This can vary widely and range from planting plans and plant lists to a monthly emails giving you maintenance needs for that month as well as ideas to develop your garden and visits to ensure your garden is meeting expectations.

Design prices will normally be about 15% of the total project price and you will more than appreciate the value by avoiding costly mistakes and possibly getting a garden beyond your dreams. It’s likely that much cheaper design prices are boosted by higher construction costs so don’t be fooled that you’ll get the same service for a cheaper price.

There are lots to think about and if you are struggling or want the eye of an expert cast over your outdoor space a garden designer can lead you through the jungle! Here are some top tips.

• Find out what you want to use your garden for. Is it for entertaining, relaxing, or for kids to play in?
• Don’t even think of elaborate gardening schemes if you’ve got a hectic lifestyle. Simplicity is the key!
• Get rid of clutter. Stick with a couple of good natural materials – Old York stone works well in traditional gardens, while contemporary styles could make use of natural hardwood.
• Strike the right balance – ignoring the natural elements can leave some gardens looking cold and lifeless.
• Don’t just pick a design that looks good in a brochure – it may not work for you, as every garden is individual.

Bring in a professional and your garden project should be plain sailing with inspirational design and great construction and planting.

For a podcast interview with Andrew all about hiring a garden designer please click here.

For those of you who read this column regularly you’ll know that at this time of the year I start getting excited about trees. You see autumn is the very best time to start planting trees so that the roots have plenty of time to start establishing through the damp of the winter and are ready to start packing on the growth in the spring. There is nothing better than getting out on a crisp autumn day to plant trees – you can almost feel them throbbing into life at the prospect of some rich soil.

The last two years have seen a turnaround in the fortunes of fruit trees as high prices in the produce aisles have sent gardeners into their gardens with a mission. Not only have we been planting more fruit trees but we’re diversifying the range of trees planted which is always a good thing. Faced with a limited variety of commercial apples and pears in the supermarkets – how easy is it to get bored with the same old apples each week? – we’re planting old varieties like Brownlees Russet, an apple that has stood the test of time since it was raised in Hemel Hempstead in 1848 by Mr William Brownlees. Other apples like Charles Ross raised in 1890 from Peasgood Nonsuch crossed with Cox’s Orange Pippin has an RHS Award of Garden Merit for its large round and showy fruit.

With apples you need to make sure that you buy two trees to allow pollination to work. Select trees from groups that are next to each other – its not complicated but check when you are buying. But if you have only space for one tree then consider the few self-pollinating varieties available or buy a family tree where three varieties are grafted onto one tree, giving an extended season of fruit. My favourites? Well Sunset has always been reliable but I also like Russets and James Grieve. If you’’re not sure which apples you might like then get along to an autumn tasting at places like RHS Wisley gardens and the Brogdale Trust in Kent which is the guardian of all our old varieties of English fruit – especially apples.

In South west London we have a great heritage in fruit trees especially in the John Innes Conservation area of Merton where I’ve regularly found unusual and long lost varieties of great apples and pear trees leftover from the original trial grounds. Its not unusual to find Cottenham Park and Merton Park pear trees which are great for espaliers but unfortunately its really difficult to buy new young trees in these varieties. Indeed the only place that I’ve ever been able to purchase them is the Brogdale Trust down in Kent (http://www.brogdale.org) These guys are the real deal and their websites are packed with all the information you’ll need to know about fruit trees.

Of courses it’s not all apples. Pears and plums are handy to have if you have the space but consider also some more unusual fruit. Damsons, greengages, medlars and mulberries are traditional fruits that are difficult to find in supermarkets but the trees are readily available from people like Blackmoor Nurseries (http://www.blackmoor.co.uk) Cobnuts and cherries are also great but I find the birds get cherries before I get a chance to pick them. If you are into preserving fruit then I can recommend no better fruits than Quince – especially Meeche’s Prolific –  and crab apples like John Downie for making the best jellies and cheeses. Crab apples are everywhere this year, even in streets so its food for free!

Autumn is also a fab time for planting fruit bushes and even if you only have a balcony you can do some great things with fruit bushes like blueberries and goji berries and I’m thinking of trying some cranberries next year. For a useful climber I’m a Loganberry fan but there are also some new Tayberry varieties getting good reviews like Buckingham Tayberry and the new Sunberry which are both ornamental and will crop into early autumn.

I actually just got asked if you can mix all these through an ornamental border and my answer really is why not – just experiment. Having just seen a proposal for a rhubarb wall it would be silly not too!