After more than ten years creating bespoke designs and gardens across Portugal, Waterwise Gardens is offering new ways to quickly bring together ideas, expertise and solutions for your garden. The pandemic has given us all food for thought about how we operate in business, what we spend our time doing, and how we can create and maintain good connections when being physically together is not possible.

To that end, we are now offering consultations by video call, at a discount compared to the normal fee to reflect the absence of travel costs. Using the video-calling app of your choice, we can accompany you on a tour of the garden and talk in-depth about what your hopes and dreams are for the space. Depending on the complexity of the site and your plans, a later visit may be necessary, but often the video call is sufficient to draw up a draft design for discussion on site at a later date, or you may get all you need from our call.

Our other new offer is the VIP Day. This is a full day on-site with you, co-creating your dream garden. The advantages are numerous: small details such as exact location of existing plants to maintain, dimensions of house, pool and other objects can be checked on site rather than having to come back for further meetings later; we can quickly look through books and online resources together to ensure we have a good understanding of what you’re looking for; and we can work together on the plant choices and design decisions immediately. By the end of the day, you will have a draft masterplan, a list of plants, and sketches visualising how the design will look once established. Further time is usually necessary to draw up a detailed planting plan if this is desired, but on the whole this modality still works out at a lower cost than a full design service. Naturally we get the most done on a VIP Day working on smaller gardens and more straightforward projects, but a decent framework can be put together for larger and more complex projects, and it enables us to get a sound feeling for what further work may be necessary.

The Waterwise Philosophy

Our aim is always to work with nature, not against. From the first visit to a site, we observe and analyse the conditions such as soil type, light and shade, proximity to the sea, and which plants are thriving locally. This information forms the basis for plant and design choices, together with the other fundamental factor: the client. Your garden is for YOU, and must work for you. What will you be using the garden for? Do you have animals or children; would you love a herb, vegetable of cut flower garden? Cosy nooks for reading? A yoga studio or outdoor sauna? We don’t have two gardens designed the same way, because each client has different needs and dreams for their garden.

Take the headache out of planning your garden

Does this sound like a lot to think about? That’s because it is! There are so many factors affecting a garden, from climate, soil, plant choices, watering technique, and maintenance over time, to the uses and aesthetics of the space. With over a decade of real-life experience designing, building, and maintaining gardens in the Algarve, we know what works where and, above all, what will work for you.

For further information: www.waterwisegardens.com , email info@waterwisegardens.com
or call Marilyn on 926484864.