Can AI Really Design Your Garden?

AI is everywhere at the moment and garden design is no exception.

Give AI a photograph of your garden, tell it what you want, and within seconds you can have a completely transformed garden on your screen.

It can look incredible.

But can AI really design your garden?

As a garden designer working across West Sussex and Sussex, I think the answer is: not quite. AI is a fantastic visual tool, but there is a big difference between creating a beautiful picture and designing a garden that actually works in real life.

Garden design is personal

When I meet a new client, the starting point isn’t a computer-generated image. It’s the person.

How do you use your garden? What do you enjoy about it? What isn’t working? Do you want somewhere to entertain, a place for children to play, more planting, somewhere peaceful to sit or a combination of all of these?

Every garden is different, and so is every client.

A garden needs to be measured and carefully considered. The layout, proportions, existing features, levels, access and sunlight all need to be understood.

And then there’s the flow.

How do you get from A to B?

Where do you enter the garden? Where do you walk? Where will you sit? Does the layout feel natural when you’re actually standing in the space?

These are things that don’t necessarily show up in a photograph.

Where AI can be brilliant

In fact, I think it can be incredibly useful for garden designers.

AI can help us create visual ideas that allow clients to imagine a finished garden. It can produce elevations, CGI-style images, moving visuals and planting ideas in seconds.

For someone who finds it difficult to visualise a plan, this can be incredibly helpful.

But there’s a catch.

AI doesn’t necessarily understand what it’s looking at.

I put AI to the test

I recently took a photograph of an existing flowerbed and asked AI to create a planting plan for a sunny border. The bed already contained a few shrubs, a large conifer and some overgrown lavender and rosemary. There was also a low wall around it.

The result appeared almost instantly. And it looked beautiful. There were masses of colourful flowers and a huge variety of plants.

But if I were to actually go to the garden centre and buy everything AI had suggested, I’d have a problem.

There were far too many plants.

The design had packed the border with plants without properly considering how large those plants would eventually become. It was designing for the photograph, not for the future garden.

Plants grow!

This is one of the biggest differences between an AI image and a real planting scheme.

When you plant a new border, it can initially look quite sparse. That’s normal. Plants need room to grow.

A planting scheme can take two or three years to become properly established, particularly when using perennials, plants that die back in winter and return again in spring and summer.

If you plant for the instant effect shown in an AI image, you can easily end up with an overcrowded border. And then, a couple of years later, you’re digging plants out because they’ve outgrown their space.

That’s an expensive mistake.

A garden needs more than flowers

Something else struck me about the AI planting plan. It was full of flowers. But where were the shrubs providing structure? What about evergreen plants and winter interest? Where was the balance between foliage, form, texture and seasonal colour?

A good planting scheme isn’t about making everything flower at exactly the same time.

It’s about creating interest throughout the year.

There might be spring bulbs, summer perennials, grasses moving in the breeze, shrubs providing structure and autumn colour with evergreen plants maintaining some form through winter.

That’s where horticultural knowledge really matters.

And what about the soil? A photograph can’t tell AI what’s happening underneath the plants.

Before choosing plants, you need to consider the growing conditions. What type of soil do you have? What is the pH? Does it drain well? Does it dry out quickly? Does it need improving?

Most importantly, are the plants you’re choosing actually suited to your garden?

A plant might look perfect in an AI-generated image but struggle in the real conditions.

AI can even misunderstand the garden itself! There’s another issue with relying on a photograph. Imagine a photograph showing a flowerbed with a retaining wall in front of it.

To you, it’s obvious that the flowerbed is actually lower than the wall.

AI may interpret the image differently and assume you’re looking at a raised border.

It can then create a beautiful planting design based on a completely incorrect understanding of the levels. The image may look convincing but the garden isn’t what AI thinks it is.

So, can AI design your garden?

AI can certainly help you visualise your garden. It can provide inspiration, explore different styles and help communicate ideas. And I think it will become an increasingly useful tool for garden designers.

But there’s a difference between visualising a garden and designing one.

A computer-generated image doesn’t necessarily know the exact dimensions of your garden, the levels, soil, drainage, aspect, existing plants, access, budget, or, most importantly, you!

That’s why I see AI as a tool rather than a replacement for a garden designer.

The best results may come from combining the two. AI can help us imagine what’s possible. A garden designer makes sure it works.

For me, good garden design is about creating a space that looks beautiful, feels right and works for the people who use it.

If you’re considering a new garden or planting scheme in West Sussex, I’d love to hear what you’re thinking about.. - Email me - hello@roccogardendesign.com

Rocco Garden Design - 07971 785855