A HOT Summer at Root & Bloom Gardens

Seven garden transformations, hundreds of plants, a lot of sweat and quite a few lessons.

What a summer.

When we launched Root & Bloom Gardens, the idea was simple: create beautiful, bespoke gardens through garden design, planting plans and professional planting services.

Seven projects later, we’ve discovered the idea might be simple. Delivering it isn’t.

There have been plant suppliers, independent contractors, landscapers, deliveries, schedules, machinery, vans, budgets and weather to coordinate.

Plants have been unavailable. Deliveries have moved. Machinery has broken. Costs have occasionally made me stare silently at a spreadsheet.

And throughout it all, it has been ridiculously hot.

Apparently premium garden design still involves quite a lot of sweating.

Seven Gardens – Seven Different Challenges.

We’ve now delivered seven Root & Bloom planting projects, from enhancing established gardens to creating completely new flower beds, raised-bed planting schemes and garden transformations, not bad for our first 6 months.

Every garden starts with the same thing: listening.

How should the garden feel? How will it be used? How much maintenance is realistic? What colours, plants and styles does the customer love?

From there we create a bespoke planting design, source the plants, prepare the space and bring the whole thing together.

That’s the pretty version.

The less pretty version involves several hundred pots, wheelbarrows, soil, compost, WhatsApp messages and wondering where you left the secateurs.

Building More Than Gardens

This summer has also been about investment.

We’ve invested in tools, machinery, vehicles, suppliers, contractors and our own knowledge.

But perhaps the biggest investment has been in relationships.

Good nurseries. Good suppliers. Skilled independent contractors. Landscapers we trust. And, most importantly, customers who trust us with their gardens.

I’ve learned very quickly that running a good garden design and planting business isn’t about pretending you can do everything yourself.

It’s about surrounding yourself with good people and making sure the customer gets the best possible result.

Design + Customer Service

Ultimately, plants are only half of what we sell.

The other half is service.

Turning up. Communicating. Keeping customers informed. Solving problems. Taking responsibility. And caring about the finished garden as much as they do.

Seven projects in, we’re learning fast.

Every supplier headache, mechanical failure, scheduling problem and unexpected challenge has made the next project better.

And thankfully, the gardens aren’t bad either.

Thinking About Your Garden?

If your garden feels tired, empty, overgrown or simply doesn’t quite work, we can help with garden design, planting plans, border design, bespoke planting schemes, raised-bed planting, garden makeovers and complete planting transformations.

Root & Bloom Gardens works across Winnersh, Wokingham, Woodley, Earley, Twyford and surrounding Berkshire areas.

Whether you’ve got an empty flower bed, an established garden that needs refreshing or a blank canvas waiting for ideas, we’d love to have a look.

Seven projects down. Plenty learned. Lots more growing. 🌱

Paul and Claire
Root & Bloom Gardens