Interior and exterior confidence
Create Academy has been such a great resource. I'm in the middle of renovating a bungalow with a very large garden and the courses have offered a wealth of inform...
Harvey
Jun 10, 2026
with BUTTER WAKEFIELD — Leading British garden designer
Lesson 21 of 25
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Butter shows you how to sketch out elevations so you can get a sense of scale in your own small garden design.
Once we had decided to spare the wonderful Acer tree, I turned my attention to the job of how to break up the back boundary wall.
The simplest way to break up the wall was to plant trees, so I plotted three Pyrus calleryana 'Chanticleer' onto our site plan that was reasonably evenly spaced. Then between these, I placed the water feature which the client had requested.
The water feature we used was a round basin, which we paired with a mirrored trellis to enhance the reflective light. This, along with the three trees, really helped to break up the back wall and create a calming space for our client.
The final drawings are all designed in CAD and we create one for the garden as a whole as well as another that contains all of the garden lighting features and all of the wiring that is required for them.
These plans can then be handed over to the firm that is installing the lighting and any sockets or speakers so that they know exactly where the ducting needs to go when the wiring is installed.
This was quite a challenging build as everything had to be craned over the house at the beginning of the project and then moved around countless times as the build progressed. I am very pleased with the end result though and how much interest we managed to pack into a small space.
Sometimes it can be hard to visualise the scale of objects if we can't see them. This is why I sometimes draw garden elevations using my scale rule so I can get a sense of height within a garden.
For this garden, I drew the Acer tree next to the rear boundary wall and also plotted the new trees and the water feature so I could get a sense of how everything worked together and the range of heights that we were creating in the space.
Don't feel like you have to make your drawings fancy, as long as it is to scale it doesn't matter whether it is beautifully drawn or not, what we are interested in here is getting a sense of space and height.
The plans for Berkeley Road can be found here.
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479 reviews
Read moreCreate Academy has been such a great resource. I'm in the middle of renovating a bungalow with a very large garden and the courses have offered a wealth of inform...
Harvey
Jun 10, 2026
Absolutely love Create Academy! The instructors are extremely informative, and it is beautifully filmed. Create Academy is great value for money and plan on renew...
SG
May 31, 2026
Butter's creativity is stunning! Her ability to incorporate brilliance in small gardens is magical!
Carla
May 30, 2026
The best adventure. I like all the courses, but my favorite are both Rita Konig interior design courses and Anna Jones. Excellent!
Karolina Kluczewska
May 20, 2026
Create Academy has been such a great resource. I'm in the middle of renovating a bungalow with a very large garden and the courses have offered a wealth of information to dive into and explore new ideas. I'm...
Harvey
Jun 10, 2026
Absolutely love Create Academy! The instructors are extremely informative, and it is beautifully filmed. Create Academy is great value for money and plan on renewing my subscription yearly because there are ...
SG
May 31, 2026
Butter's creativity is stunning! Her ability to incorporate brilliance in small gardens is magical!
Carla
May 30, 2026
Your Instructor
Leading British garden designer
Butter Wakefield has been a distinguished garden designer for over 20 years. In 2016, she established her eponymous studio, combining her expertise in interiors with her passion for gardening. Butter's unique ability to connect outside spaces with interiors has made her a sought-after designer, particularly known for her love of city gardens. With over 15 years of experience, Butter has crafted numerous inspirational and purposeful gardens of various sizes in London and beyond.
Her journey into garden design began at the English Gardening School (1997/98), where she completed the Year Diploma Course in Plants and Plantsmanship, winning two prizes. Butter further honed her skills at the London College of Garden Design (2013/14), graduating with a Merit Commended. Before venturing into garden design, she worked as an interior design assistant at Colefax and Fowler on Brook Street. Here, she developed a deep appreciation for scale, texture, pattern, colour, and the core principles of design.
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