1. Budget - Decide on a realistic budget. Work out weather you require paid help. Remember that the cost of materials, plants and hire equipment can soon add up.
2. Length of stay - If you are planning to stay in your home a while, you can afford to wait for your garden to mature. If you require a more instant garden, it'll cost your more. Plan this into your budget.
3. Safety - If you have babies, children, you won't want a water feature or any poisonous plants. Think about slopes and moving around the garden especially if elderly persons live with you.
4. Level of maintenance - Are you a lazy or keen gardener? It makes a difference to the design of your garden. If you are the former, opt for low-maintenance features, such as ground cover plants or mulch, to save regular weeding rather than masses of annuals in a border, which need a lot of looking after.
5. The next thing you need to do- look at what already exists in your garden and think about how it can be re-used. As it can be tempting to throw everything out and start with a clean slate (adds to the budget). Secondly (for thought) all the woody plant material and pruning’s can be quickly fed into a hired shredder and the chippings make excellent mulch for the borders.