The Society of Garden Designers has been championing excellence in garden design for the last 30 years.
It is the only professional association for garden designers in the UK and counts some of the UK’s leading garden and landscape designers among its growing membership.
Membership is not only a marker of credentials- the society also offers constructive support to designers all year round with seminars, workshops and the monthly Garden Design Journal. Most recently the society have turned their attention to the forthcoming 2013 SGD Awards which are now open for submissions from SGD members and for the first time this year, to the general public through its Designing for Community Spaces Award.
The awards are an annual programme designed to recognise outstanding achievement in the garden and landscape design profession- covering all aspects of design from private domestic gardens to engaging public spaces, the Awards are dedicated to rewarding excellence among landscape and garden designers.
With four new award categories, the SGD Awards are now more accessible than ever. In addition, the SGD will automatically enter appropriate submissions in the four main residential, the public and commercial and international categories into the planting, hard landscape and lighting award categories, thereby increasing the chance of receiving one of the coveted prizes.
New award categories for 2013 include: Big Design, Small Budget, an award which recognises that great design need not be restricted by budget; Paper Landscapes, which is the opportunity for designers to submit creative ideas that might never have been built; and Renovation, an award for the renovation of an existing garden or the creation of a new design for an existing landscape.
To reflect the value of some of the smaller communities’ spaces, the new Designing for Community Spaces Award will invite SGD members and non–members alike to enter gardens they feel have benefited the local community.
Other on-going Award categories include: the highly prized Judges Award; the SGD Grand Award, the most prestigious Award of the ceremony, which was won last year by Dan Pearson MSGD; and the John Brookes Lifetime Achievement Award which is gifted by the SGD Council to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the Industry. Last year the Award went to landscape architect and author Charles Jencks.
The Society is also continuing to work with media partner Homes & Gardens magazine who will be running the People’s Choice Award and calling on their readers and the general public alike to cast their vote for their favourite garden.
Speaking about the awards, Awards Organiser, Helen Elks-Smith MSGD said:
“The SGD looks forward with confidence to building on the success of the 2012 SGD Awards in supporting and promoting the work of its members and engaging with industry on landscape and garden design. The range of the Award categories reflects the businesses of our members and we look forward to seeing further examples of the incredible work produced by the membership.”
Whilst the Awards are dedicated to rewarding talent amongst the landscape and garden designer, the SGD recognises that great gardens are the result of teamwork and is keen to acknowledge and reward the contractors associated with the winning schemes and the educational establishment where the winning student received their training.
For more information about the Society and the upcoming awards please visit www.sgd.org.uk.
Kate Eyre Garden Design
Kate Eyre Garden Design is a dynamic garden design and landscaping company working in London and the neighbouring counties.
The company endeavors to create beautiful, stunning gardens that range from the contemporary to the architecturally traditional. Planting is original and exemplary, stimulating the visual senses throughout the seasons.
What makes a good garden? Speaking to Premier Construction, Kate Eyre said:
“I think in order to create a good garden space there is a need to keep with the decor and style of the house and surrounding area. For example, a very contemporary garden would look somewhat out of place in the grounds of a Tudor House.”
Kate Eyre Garden Design not only designs and landscapes, the company also offers a complete maintenance package which secures the health of the garden for years to come. On this, Kate added:
“After the design is complete we continue to work with the clients in order to maintain the garden, currently we’re maintaining gardens that we installed over five years ago. When you pay to have your garden designed it is a massive investment and you need to make sure that that investment is well looked after by people who understand it, we offer that service.”
When asked what the company prides itself on, Kate said:
“We really pride ourselves on making sure something is happening in the garden all year round, after all a garden always looks better three years after we have put it in, it’s not like interior design, our work gets better with time.”
As a mark of Kate Eyre Garden Design’s success they are accredited members of the Society of Garden Designers. When asked about their membership, Kate said:
“The SGD is a wonderful institution, it’s very credible and they support designers like myself. When becoming a member it’s not just about being a designer, the society look at the way your business is run and the way you perform as a credible designer out in the field.
“If you use a garden designer that is accredited by the SGD it means that they are of a really high calibre.”
If you would like more information about Kate Eyre Garden Design and to see some examples of their work then visit www.eyre-design.co.uk.
