It’s a happy day when the first episode of the Great British Bake Off (GBBO) new season airs.  If you’re anything like us you’ve been glued to your TVs every Wednesday night watching the trials and tribulations of this year’s wannabe star bakers getting to grips with Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood’s stretching, if not seemingly impossible (for us mere mortals), weekly baking challenges.

But watching the initially optimistic bakers’ dozen succumb to the pressures of the signature, technical and showstopper challenges over the last few weeks it’s got us to thinking and as mad as it sounds we think the GBBO has lessons about garden design hidden in its depths.

So, without further ado here’s our take on what the GBBO can teach us about being a garden designer.

1. Ingredients

A core component of a successful GBBO challenge is the ingredients of a bake that combine to make a hopefully beautiful whole.  It’s exactly the same for garden design – get the ingredients wrong and the results can be disastrous.  When putting that ‘recipe’ together, whether for the oven or the garden it pays to think ahead.  Creativity and flair make for exciting results but garden designers generally tend not to throw ingredients in on a whim!

2. Measuring out

Linked to the above, the measuring out of those ingredients is crucial to a good bake.  Getting it wrong will change the chemistry of a bake, and from that everything else follows: taste, structure, consistency, look, etc.  Get your measurements wrong in garden design and you’ll potentially be looking at a disproportionate, imbalanced result, not to mention a probable under or over spend on materials and a garden that might not be fit for purpose (paths too narrow, steps too high, patio too small, for instance).  It might not feel very creative, but garden designers love tape measures and other measuring instruments.  The lesson is clear - take the time to measure things out and the results will look all the better for it.

3. Timing

There’s no getting away from it – good baking is all about timing and the GBBO takes that timing and turns it into high pressure for the bakers every week.  Garden design is a little less time sensitive for most of us (unless there’s a show garden involved, of course!) but it does still play a key role in a garden design project.  Timescales from idea to concept through to build and planting can take months rather than weeks so it’s important for clients to know what’s involved before things even begin to happen; the timing of materials delivery can either help or hinder the progress of a build phase while the seasonal timing of planting up designs can have implications for cost, risk (in terms of plant survival) and visual impact, to name a few.  Timing also needs to have a degree of flexibility and judgement thrown into the mix too – in GBBO terms that manifest itself as ‘shall I take it out of the oven’, ‘shall I leave it in’, ‘is it cooked’, ‘shall I turn it up, or down or just leave it’; these are all GBBO dilemmas that we see week in week out but similar judgement calls also need to be made in garden design projects too, many led by the weather!  The lesson:– have a plan, but be prepared to be flexible.

4. Creativity

This one goes without saying – every week in the GBBO kitchen we see creativity in spades – remember Nancy’s Moulin Rouge-inspired red windmill bake that may well have clinched her the winner’s apron last year (they don’t call it a showstopper for nothing)?  A GBBO winner is never going be short on creativity and neither is a good garden designer.  But creativity doesn’t have to be all singing, all dancing and showy, it can be subtle and clever too; hidden in the depths of the flavouring, and so it is with garden design too.  A good, creative garden design doesn’t have to smack you in the face! It can creep up on you slowly and win you over with subtle, clever touches of genius; so don’t forget garden design isn’t all about the show stopper!

5. Confidence

We see it often in the GBBO – a contestant trying to face down Paul Hollywood’s sceptical blue eyes after they’ve outlined their plans to him.  Garden design can sometimes feel like that, especially when presenting a concept!  But we’ve also found that non-believers can and often do become converts – the proof, as they say, is often in the pudding.  Paul Hollywood is big enough to admit when his scepticism was misplaced and a good dose of confidence also goes a long way in garden design where, unlike the GBBO, the ‘pudding’ will never usually get to be made unless you can win someone over to the ideas first.  The lesson for a garden designer - present your ideas with confidence because if you don’t have confidence in your design your client definitely won’t.

6. Scale & Structure

Scale and structure crops up time and again in the GBBO – bake 36 identical these; 3 tiers of those; a freestanding this; a centrepiece made out of that – it’s not enough to make a great biscuit for instance in the GBBO: instead you’ve got to make a biscuit scene and week in, week out the bakers generally rise to the challenge.  The lessons are clear: a methodical, unflappable approach, calmness in the face of adversity (who can forget ‘bin gate’ last series?!), being able to think on your feet and occasionally outside the box, adapt plans, avoid distractions, work to a plan and a timetable while remaining technically sound and keeping a sharp eye on the details are all required to win out.  These skills need to be the preserve of the garden designer too.

7. Consistency

Everyone agrees – you have to be good to even win a place in the GBBO tent but when the competition starts in earnest you have to be consistent too.  You don’t have to be star baker week in week out to win either, just consistently good – remember Nancy beating Richard last year (he won the most star baker accolades than anyone, ever in GBBO terms, but Nancy still won out).  Consistency counts and it’s a good trait for a garden designer too – you don’t have to be a celebrity garden designer to be a good one.

8. Expertise

The GBBO wouldn’t be the success it is without the doyen of baking and the blue-eyed baker boy that are Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood respectively.  It is their expertise that adds the extra pressure onto the contestants which in turn is so engaging to watch.  It is their opinion we all hang on to – them the contestants want to impress and be like in the kitchen – it is them that are the safe pair of hands in the collective and proverbial baking kitchen of the nation.  The GBBO wouldn’t be the same without that level of expertise – it is a key ingredient of its success – and garden designs benefit from a good dose of expertise too.  Sure we can all have a go and do it ourselves – the contestants themselves are testimony to that for the most part in baking terms, but disasters do happen, quite often, and you can’t help thinking that if Paul or Mary were baking x, y or z, it would be a pretty disaster-free affair. The GBBO lesson for being a garden designer: know your stuff.

9. Humour

Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins aren’t to everyone’s taste but their contribution to the success of GBBO with their silly, easy brand of humour and tongue in cheek innuendos is indisputable.  Their humour is the constant thread throughout the GBBO; it is the tension reliever, the stress buster and more often than not it is the disaster averter.  And while it’s not a requirement for a garden designer, the lessons of the GBBO apply here too – however plans go awry, and for whatever reason,  hang on to your humour!

10. Taste test

There’s no getting away from it, taste matters in the GBBO tent and so it is with garden design too.  Whether you’re baking for Paul and Mary or your family; or designing a garden for a client the desired outcomes are the same: the taster has to love the result.  Hopefully the other lessons learned will contribute to a positive outcome but one of the tricks in this regard is to keep the particular taster in mind while applying those lessons.  Taste is subjective, after all there is no accounting for it as the old adage says, so it is important to cater for a specific taster (client) when thinking about garden design – it is that bespoke application of skill and knowledge that will ensure success.

So there you have it, 10 lessons that GBBO can teach us about being a garden designer.  When we’re all watching the final of GBBO next week we’ll find out which one of the remaining 3 bakers will win out and after that... well Wednesday night’s won’t be the same again...until next year.  Time to apply the lessons learned to a garden design we think...