landscape architecture Archives - WM Design Studio LTD

Will you lock up your lawnmower?

I love the #NoMowMay campaign and finally people are realising that dandelions and daisies are not a danger and clover should not be cleared. It's fantastic to see so many people on social media showing photos of their lawn and saying they will let their lawn grow, as part of #NoMowMay. Research has found that letting flowers and plants within your lawn bloom naturally can provide 10 times the amount of nectar for bees, butterflies and other pollinators. I would recommend choosing an area of lawn to leave growing, and still mow the parts of the lawn that you use. You could create

Categories: Advice and tips, ecological garden design, ecological landscape design, ecology, Garden design, Lancashire, landscape architecture, Manchester
May 9th 2022

Planting sunflowers and lavender

Could there be a more British combo than planting lavender and sunflowers. Not necessarily together – but they are both classic garden plants that are easy to grow and bring us huge amounts of pleasure. Now the RSPB has launched a campaign for homeowners to plant more of these plants in order to help reverse the decline of common garden species, such as starlings and bumblebees. The organisation says that starling numbers have fallen by two thirds since the 1970s, while populations of half of bumblebee species falling. The RSBP wants people to plant flowers that produce seeds/ nectar that are loved by birds

Categories: Architecture, ecological garden design, ecological landscape design, Garden design, landscape architecture, Landscape design, Michael John McGarr
April 22nd 2022

The success of the hedgehog highway

I read this fabulous piece of news that hedgehog numbers are increasing in urban areas (although not as great news that rural numbers have still dropped.)Your average person’s knowledge of hedgehogs’ habitats has increased due to brilliant education around creating ‘hedgehog highways’ between urban gardens to allow hedgehogs to roam throughout the night.Hedgehogs can travel up to 12 miles per night, so our urban or suburban walls and fences make this really tricky for them. We always design in hedgehog highways into any fences, walls or boundaries that we design – these small factors can make a huge difference. Pictured is

Categories: Advice and tips, Business news, Cheshire, ecological garden design, ecological landscape design, ecology, Garden design, landscape architecture, Landscape design, Manchester, Press coverage
March 25th 2022

Using brownfield sites for biodiversity

I’ve been doing a lot of research about biodiversity on brownfield sites for one of my projects, which led me to this fantastic lecture by landscape designer John Little.John runs the Green Roof company, which has enabled him to bring wild biodiverse-rich landscapes to schools, public spaces and roofs.He lives on a four acre plot where he tests out various structures and landscape materials, with different types of planting and how well they work in terms of ecology. He even talks about a shopping trolley found abandoned in a pond - it looks terrible but is brilliant in ecological terms, because it’s

Categories: Advice and tips, ecological garden design, ecological landscape design, Garden design, landscape architecture, Landscape design, Michael John McGarr, sustainable garden design, wildlife
March 18th 2022

Plant a tree before spring

Tree planting season is coming to an end so now is a great time to think about investing in a multi-functional specimen tree to get planted before spring. It’s important to look at the end size of a tree compared to the size of your garden – you don’t want a 20m high Scots Pine in a small back garden in 10 years time! There are many benefits to using the beautifully named Mophead maple (Acer Platanoides ‘Globosum’) within a garden planting scheme, including its autumn colour. Its round tight canopy carries a contemporary look which allows underplanting of bulbs and gives

Categories: Advice and tips, ecological landscape design, ecology, Garden design, landscape architecture, Landscape design, Uncategorised
February 18th 2022

Thinking about functional planting

However much we love a certain plant, flower or tree in our gardens, we should also be asking ourselves – what function will this have within my eco-system? All plants are multi-functional in many ways, so it makes sense for a garden designer to plan out a new landscape as a mini eco-system, with every plant in the right place. While my design aesthetic is to create the ultimate in luxury, I also bring into play the ecology of the surrounding landscape. What are the functions of plants?Climatically, plants are important, as we all know. As our climate changes, we must also

Categories: Advice and tips, ecological garden design, ecological landscape design, Garden design, landscape architecture, Landscape design, Uncategorised
February 11th 2022

low maintenance garden design Michael John McGarr

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

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

Warnes McGarr & co award winning garden design

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

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

New Ideas : New Materials in Landscape Architecture.

So it begins! It was great to get on the "big train to the big smoke" on Monday. As I dragged my suitcase through the streets of Wigan towards the train station, my usual penchant for garden design observation kicked in. I began to take in the good, and not so good gardens and landscape architecture within the public spaces around town. I needn't have been too concerned with this, as what lay in store for me was something far more exciting. The London College of Garden Design are hosting the "Spring Info Burst : New Ideas : New materials"

Categories: Architecture, Bolton, british stone, Cheshire, Garden design, Housebuilding, innovation, Lancashire, landscape architecture, Landscape design, london, Michael John McGarr, Uncategorised
February 14th 2019

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

WM DESIGN STUDIO LTD. Landscape Architecture and Garden Design.

5.0

Based on 10 reviews

Patrick Gormley

16:52 22 Feb 21

WM Design Studio completed a large landscaping project for us at our previous house. They managed the project from... initial design through to build completion. Throughout the process they delighted us from a design that was both sympathetic to the wider area but also blended with our new home extension. They were professional, friendly and respectful during the build and minimised the disruption associated with a large build project. My wife and I were thrilled with the end results and I would have no hesitation in recommending.read more

Christine Burke

13:23 07 Jan 19

WM Design Studio is a very professional company. Everyone we worked with were intelligent and professional. The design... ideas involved things we wouldn't have been able to think of ourselves and included levelling and transformation of a wasteland at the back. As it was a big project for us there were bound to be minor issues and these were all resolved in a timely and professional manner. The budget was negotiated fairly and the work done was of a high quality. It was worth paying for good workmanship and excellent knowledge in all aspects of our garden design and construction.read more

beccy weeks

06:11 24 Dec 18

We had no idea what potential our garden kept hidden as a secret. These guys design unlocked the potential by... designing a living space that matched exactly what we wanted and kept the theme of our house extension running through the garden to the very end. We are really pleased with the design and the pragmatism around staging the delivery to give us exactly what we want. I would recommend to anyone wanting an amazing outdoor living space!!read more

Mike leary

09:48 20 Dec 18

Michael of WM design studio has been instrumental to gaining planning permission on my project. His industry knowledge... and anticipation of what was required have delivered a scheme which fulfils all the requirements of not only myself as the client but also of a very particular design review panel. Recommend without hesitation!read more

Carolyn Hughes

16:38 19 Apr 18

Having worked with WM Design Studio, I am constantly impressed with Michael's creativity, dedication and... professionalism.read more

Norman Willson

20:16 16 Mar 16

"Many thanks to the team--especially Rob --who did a very professional job. Everything looks fine and I am busy... planting out in the new beds.” Norman Willsonread more

See All Reviews

Blog

Category: landscape architecture