If Michaelangelo had met Alan Titchmarsh and gone into gardening, there might have been no need for Ian Imms and his innovative new company.

Fortunately he didn't, otherwise art lovers may have been forced to pay rather more to take part in the latest fad to hit Sussex's borders and hedges.

Mr Imms is one of the main partners in Site Editions, a Sussex-based internet art dealership which has identified a gap in the market and is now supplying garden sculptures for the many people who aren't into ceramic gnomes or plastic pink flamingos.

It was frustration that led Mr Imms to begin commissioning sculptors to brighten up the garden.

He said: "I had so much trouble buying a sculpture for my own garden, and I eventually commissioned a sculptor to make a piece.

"It was a nightmare. He was a nice guy, and I liked his work, but it was a huge risk because I didn't know what it was going to end up like.

"It took about a year before it turned up. Our idea is that people can see what they are going to get beforehand and decide whether it was right for them.

"They don't have to know about sculpture in order to get hold of a good piece of work."

The concept behind Site Editions is simple. Prospective customers can see the company's sculptures at Denman's Gardens, in Fontwell, and in an exhibition in central London.

There they can walk around a collection of six different sculptures with names like Cloud, Waveform and Fish - or if they prefer they can see pictures of the sculptures on the internet.

If they like a particular artwork, they order it, and it is hand-crafted and delivered to their door. No more than 500 of each sculpture is sold, so that each piece is part of a limited edition.

The sculptor gets a small fee up front, and a fair cut of the profits made from each copy.

Mr Imms is not a sculptor himself - his background is business and marketing.

He sells his sculptors' work at prices which he says makes them more accessible than traditional sculptures - but clients should be prepared to pay more than £1,000 for the dearer pieces.

Mr Imms said: "It has been very interesting working with the artists. We do all the organising, the delivery, the selling and the rest of it, which leaves them free to do art. We use our skills in a complementary way and hopefully we both win - as does the public.

"Some of the younger artists who are not so well known see it as a way of becoming better known. Others who are well-known see it as a way of people being able to acquire their work in a way that they wouldn't otherwise do."

Site Editions is just over a year old, and is steadily building up custom.

Mr Imms said: "It's taken a bit of time for some people to understand what we are about, because it's a new concept.

"But once people get the idea they think it's very good. A lot of garden designers are very interested in it, because it gives them something else to incorporate into their designs.

"It's bringing in keen gardeners, but it's also bringing in art lovers who have a garden."

The original works in the first Site Editions Collection in Fontwell have been commissioned from artists of distinction, some of whom are Sussex residents.

Mr Imms said: "Rather than a plant being the focal point of your garden, you've got a piece of sculpture, and unlike a plant it doesn't die, change shape or outgrow its space."

Mr Imms runs the company with Ann Sutton, who provides the artistic expertise, and Sue Smith, another business brain.

He said: "As a business it takes an investment of time and money and we are hoping we get a return on that investment and the prognosis looks very good, but the world is full of people who had great ideas, so we are not being silly about it.

"We are not giving up our day jobs until we know this is going to work."

Site Editions displays permanently at Denham's Gardens, Fontwell, and is exhibiting until July 27 at Cabbages & Kings, in Hadlow Down, East Sussex. Telephone 01825 830552 for further details.

You can view the collection on the website at www.site-editions.com.