You can start by asking your designer if they use a design questionnaire. Design questionnaires can be a useful tool in helping you to clarify your needs while also helping you to consider opportunities that might otherwise be over looked. I typically email out a questionnaire a week prior to visiting. If your designer doesn’t have a questionnaire, make sure you sit down with a the garden stakeholders (parents, kids etc) and fully discuss what each would like to get from the garden. A group discussion is also a great way to get kids and other family members interested in garden activity. Write everything down and make a prioritised list. Leaf through some magazines and make up a scrapbook of images of things you like. It doesn’t matter what the images feature, just once you like them. A scrapbook will give a designer a broad view of your likes - you could also include images of things you don’t like. If you’d like to read more about maximising your design experience, visit http://www.bordbia.ie/Pages/IGT-FurtherReading.aspx I assembled a more comprehensive feature for the Garden Time website, see Maximising your Design Experience (PDF)