Low-maintenance garden design- experiments, developments and lessons in outdoor living.

by Michael John McGarr The first question that many clients ask me on that very first consultation meeting is can I design a beautiful garden that will stay beautiful? How do I create a high-spec luxury outdoor living space that is really and truly low maintenance? My contemporary outdoor living spaces are actually naturally low-maintenance. I would not design a stunning space and then tell you that the huge lawn needs mowing twice a week and you need to hand-weed dandelions out of it (who could be bothered to do that?!). I won't leave you with swathes of bedding plants that need to

• Categories: Advice and tips, Business news, ecological garden design, ecological landscape design, ecology, Garden design, innovation, Lancashire, landscape architecture, Landscape design, Manchester, Michael John McGarr, Outdoor kitchens, Residential garden, sustainable garden design, wildlife
• November 29th 2019

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RHS gold – what does it mean?

by Michael John McGarr The quest for RHS gold is a long and arduous one, and one which is all too familiar to myself. Our gold medal achievement at RHS Tatton 2017 for the futuristic garden design '2101' was a triumph, which took almost a year to plan and just a few short weeks to execute on the ground. Scars, blood and a descent into alcoholism were just some of the by-products of achieving an accolade on the highest stage of one's industry. Overnight success? The myth of the overnight success is prevalent across all industries. The winner holds up the awards for the cameras

• Categories: Awards, Business news, Cheshire, ecological garden design, ecological landscape design, Garden design, innovation, landscape architecture, Landscape design, Manchester, Michael John McGarr, RHS Tatton, Show gardens, Sponsorship, sustainable garden design
• November 26th 2019

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Six ways you can help the environment in your garden

by Michael McGarr Environmental issues are top of the news agenda at the moment, and the recent State of Nature report really hammered home how perilously the UK's fragile ecology was faring. This article I read on the BBC stated that: - In the UK, one in seven species are threatened with extinction - 41% of UK species specified have declined since 1970. - one in five plants are at risk of extinction - wildflowers have been lost at the rate of one species per year since the 1950s. These facts and figures are horrifying and I just hope that our Government will take heed of this

• Categories: Advice and tips, Business news, ecological garden design, ecological landscape design, ecology, Garden design, innovation, landscape architecture, Landscape design, Michael John McGarr, Residential garden, sustainable garden design, wildlife
• October 21st 2019

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Five things to consider before redesigning your garden

When it comes to garden design, planning should take place during the colder months to allow the greatest reward in terms of enjoying the garden during the hottest months of the year," says Michael John McGarr, director and garden designer at Warnes McGarr & Co. Spring is a season full of potential for both the plants about to spring to life in your garden, but also for homeowners to lay the seeds of their garden design planning ideas. The arrival of spring also means that summer is just around the corner, so take the time now to really think about how you want

• Categories: Advice and tips, Architecture, Awards, Business news, Cheshire, ecological garden design, ecological landscape design, ecology, Garden design, innovation, Lancashire, landscape architecture, Landscape design, Michael John McGarr, Outdoor kitchens, Press coverage, Residential garden, Show gardens, sustainable garden design, wildlife
• October 19th 2019

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Houzz awards 2019 – Award Winning Landscape Design.

Houzz Awards 2019 - Warnes McGarr & Co. - Award Winning Landscape Design. Awarded by the community of over 40 million monthly users, annual BOH badge highlights home renovation & design professionals with Top ratings and most popular home designs  "Warnes - McGarr & Co. of  Wigan has won “Best Of Design ” on Houzz®, the leading platform for home renovation and design. The multi award winning landscape design and build company was chosen by the more than 40 million monthly unique users that comprise the Houzz community from among more than 2.1 million active home building, renovating and design industry professionals. The Best Of Houzz is

• Categories: Advice and tips, Architecture, Awards, Bolton, Business news, Cheshire, Garden design, garden lighting, Housebuilding, Lancashire, landscape architecture, Landscape design, Manchester, Michael John McGarr, Outdoor kitchens, Press coverage, rain gardens, Residential garden, RHS Tatton, Robert Warnes, Show gardens, sketchup, Sponsorship, Uncategorised, Wigan
• February 4th 2019

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Garden lighting in landscape design

By Michael John McGarr Garden lighting in landscape design. Garden lighting in landscape design is extremely important and it is often an afterthought for most clients. However, we encourage them to think about lighting early on. In our British climate, our garden is viewed most of the year from the interior of the property so it is paramount that lighting is effective. This is particularly poignant in winter when shorter days render lighting the most effective feature within a garden. It always make me smile when clients use their garden lighting systems to wow guests at winter dinner parties. It never occurred to them that they would be

• Categories: Advice and tips, Architecture, Awards, Bolton, Business news, Cheshire, Garden design, garden lighting, Housebuilding, Lancashire, landscape architecture, Landscape design, Manchester, Michael John McGarr, Outdoor kitchens, Press coverage, rain gardens, Residential garden, RHS Tatton, Show gardens, sketchup, Wigan
• January 16th 2019

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Sketchup for landscape design.

By Robert Warnes. Sketchup for Landscape design. I have done quite some reading recently on established landscape design principles and conventions, but rarely have I come across anything detailing the specific method and workflow we employ as a company of designers to achieve our garden designs. There will be many garden design purists out there who firmly believe that in order to effectively design it is essential to be able to put pencil to paper and physically draw the garden. I disagree. I am unfortunately not blessed with talent or skill to do this. I do feel however this obstacle can be overcome by

• Categories: Advice and tips, Architecture, Awards, Bolton, Business news, Cheshire, Garden design, Housebuilding, Lancashire, landscape architecture, Landscape design, Manchester, Outdoor kitchens, Residential garden, sketchup, Uncategorised
• January 9th 2019

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Landscape design in 2019 – A New Movement.

By Michael John McGarr Our niche within landscape design in 2019. Our niche within landscape design in 2019 has developed from our passion to create gardens that people can use all year round, as well as a continuing trend for outdoor living. We feel that a traditional lawned garden with flower beds around the edges is designed to be viewed through the window and perhaps mowed once a week in the summer to keep it looking spick and span. We can achieve so much more... [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="3600"] Outdoor living space and outdoor kitchen in a landscape design in 2019 by Warnes-McGarr &

• Categories: Advice and tips, Architecture, Awards, Bolton, Business news, Cheshire, Garden design, Housebuilding, Lancashire, landscape architecture, Landscape design, Manchester, Michael John McGarr, Outdoor kitchens, Press coverage, rain gardens, Residential garden, RHS Tatton, Show gardens, Sponsorship, Uncategorised, Wigan
• January 2nd 2019

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5 ways to include wildlife in your garden design.

'The way we see it, our gardens don't belong to us alone – they belong to all the wildlife that lives there, eats there or even just uses them as a stopping off point,' says award-winning garden designer Michael John McGarr of Warnes McGarr & Co. 'This could involve the hedgehog that wanders through your garden at night, the birds that stop off in the thick shrubbery, right through to the beetles and woodlice that live under a stone at the end of the garden.' It doesn't take a huge amount of effort to ensure wildlife can flourish in your garden

• Categories: Advice and tips, Architecture, Awards, Bolton, Business news, Cheshire, Garden design, Housebuilding, Lancashire, landscape architecture, Landscape design, Manchester, Michael John McGarr, Outdoor kitchens, Press coverage, rain gardens, Residential garden, Wigan
• December 19th 2018

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Warnes McGarr & Co at The Landscape Show

By Michael McGarr We were really honoured to be asked to speak at the Landscape Show which takes place in London on Wednesday, September 18 and Thursday, September 19. This is one of the biggest exhibitions for the garden and landscape design industry, so we are thrilled to be heading down to the big smoke next week. We will be sitting on a panel on the Wednesday, hosted by the brilliant London College of Garden Design, entitled How to shake up your garden design. Our landscape design and garden design always pushes the boundaries with creativity and innovative new technologies, so we

• Categories: Business news, Landscape design, Michael John McGarr
• September 11th 2018

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