wildlife Archives - WM Design Studio LTD

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How to feed the wildlife over winter

Even though we don’t go outside into our gardens as much during the winter, they are still full of wildlife. It’s important to make sure they have plenty of nourishment until the nature bursts into life again in the spring.This year has been particularly mild (we’ve still had tomatoes in the greenhouse until recently!), so flowering plants have survived for a lot longer. However, we do have frost forecast in the coming weeks so think ahead!There are still plenty of small garden birds outside, feeding on seed heads and berries, but by keeping seed feeders full, this ensures that they

Categories: ecological garden design, ecological landscape design, Lancashire, Landscape design, Manchester, Michael John McGarr, sustainable garden design, wildlife
December 2nd 2022

Scatter your self-seeding annuals for a bigger bloom next year

Self-seeding flowers are one of a gardener's joys, especially if you have large areas to plant. Once these plants are established in your garden, you can scatter the seed heads elsewhere in your garden to spread the joy!Of course, they may seed anywhere, but once you become familiar with the seedlings, you can pull them out if they appear somewhere you don’t want them to.If you want to establish these plants from scratch, you are better waiting until spring to sow your seeds. Eschscholzia californicaThese wild orange or yellow poppies, otherwise known as California poppies, bring joy every time I see them. If

Categories: Advice and tips, landscape architecture, Landscape design, Residential garden, sustainable garden design, wildlife
August 26th 2022

Key highlights from RHS Tatton

RHS Tatton was a fabulous show yet again this year, despite the builds suffering from the intense heatwave earlier last week (we’ve been there and it’s hard work!). One of the standout gardens for me was the ‘Working from Home’ garden by 26-year-old Will Scholey, who achieved 'Young Designer of the Year', as well as a silver gilt medal. The design concept was to create a space to work from while reducing the homeowner’s carbon footprint. The ‘daily commute’ was a winding gravel path through native meadow planting with multi-stemmed trees. The hard landscaping was all reclaimed, and there were mounds of

Categories: Advice and tips, Awards, Cheshire, ecological garden design, ecological landscape design, ecology, Garden design, landscape architecture, Landscape design, Michael John McGarr, Outdoor kitchens, Show gardens, sustainable garden design, sustainable garden design., wildlife
July 29th 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

low maintenance garden design Michael John McGarr

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

by Michael John McGarrThe 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

Warnes McGarr & co award winning garden design

Six ways you can help the environment in your garden

by Michael McGarrEnvironmental 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

Landscape Design Survey for Wildlife.

By Michael John McGarrA landscape design survey for wildlife shouldn't just be an exercise in measuring the site backwards and forwards, anyone with a laser level can accurately achieve this task.The key to creating a garden design that is beneficial to wildlife is to understand the current site conditions on a deeper level.More often than not wildlife is abundant on sites that have either been neglected or mismanaged for any length of time.Ironically the biggest danger to existing wildlife is the potential threat of further construction and development. The onus is then on the landscape designer to cushion the effects

Categories: ecological garden design, ecological landscape design, ecology, sustainable garden design, sustainable garden design., wildlife
May 9th 2019

Warnes McGarr & Co. Landscape Design.

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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

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Category: wildlife