I have a garden.

I also have ideas.

Quite a lot of ideas, actually.

The problem is that not all of them fit together. Some are impractical. Some are probably ridiculous. And some sound brilliant until you ask the most important question:

Where on earth am I going to put it?

So I recruited some help.

ChatGPT.

The plan

The idea is simple: use ChatGPT as a design partner.

I’ll throw ideas at it. Ask questions. Challenge suggestions. Try different planting combinations. Work through colour palettes, structure and seasonal interest.

Then I’ll take those ideas and turn them into actual decisions about the garden.

Or reject them.

Or completely change my mind.

That’s the interesting bit.

From idea to reality

Each design story will follow roughly the same journey:

The idea
What am I trying to achieve?

The AI suggestion
What does ChatGPT think I should do?

The decision
What am I actually going to plant — and why?

The reality
Did it work?

Because there’s a big difference between a beautiful planting scheme on a screen and one that’s sitting outside in December being battered by the weather.

And I’m interested in that difference.

I don’t want this blog to pretend that every decision will be perfect. Some plants will thrive. Some won’t. Some combinations will look fantastic. Others will make me wonder what I was thinking.

I’ll document all of it.

So this is where the garden gets designed — one conversation, one planting scheme and one slightly questionable decision at a time.

Let’s see if the AI knows what it’s doing.