About

I am a garden designer based in York, mainly working in and around Yorkshire but have travelled up and down the UK to design gardens and am always happy to travel to help clients with their gardens. I love creating gardens with strong architectural outlines softened by voluminous planting that draws on year round interest, ensuring there is something to capture the eye whatever the season. Gardens should always evoke all the senses from the colour palette on the eye, to the rustling of plants swaying in the wind to the amazing perfumes that can be inhaled, whether on a summer’s evening or the depth of winter.

No matter what size space you have, from a balcony or small courtyard to a large country garden having your garden professionally designed will maximise its potential. Whether this means extending the view to make the most of the surrounding landscape, creating another room for your family to get the most out of the space, an extension of the house (creating a scene that brings the outside in) or space to relax in and enjoy the outdoors. Whether you are looking for contemporary, traditional, a family space or a wildlife garden I will work with you to create the space that works for you.

Values

Collaboration: I love designing gardens and helping clients enjoy their outside spaces. However it is your garden and I want you to be enjoying spending time in it for years to come. Therefore it is really important to me that we work together and there is time for you to provide input and feedback throughout the process.

Wildlife and ecological elements are also important considerations, thinking about plants that will encourage bees and butterflies, something as simple as creating a ‘nectar bar’ whilst using a stunning palette of your favourite colour flowers, whether you prefer purples and white or blues and yellows, for example. Or just leaving a small space (a gap in the fence or space between a wall and tree, for example) to allow hedgehogs to travel between gardens.

Sustainability: The more we can do to reduce, reuse and recycle the better it is for the planet. I use nurseries where the plant pots can be returned to be reused after the planting is complete (alternatively if clients want to keep them for growing vegetables or potting up cuttings you are always very welcome to keep them). Any elements where

Route to Garden Designer

Gardening has always been a passion, it’s a space in which I switch off from the day whether taking my secateurs out to prune, pulling a few weeds out or wandering around plotting my next purchases. I love the thrill of watching how the garden comes to life after making changes or renovating borders and seeing how it changes over the season, soaking this in by sitting down with a drink (anything from a steaming mug of coffee on cold winter’s day to a glass of wine on a warm summer’s evening) or just watching the local wildlife go by. I’m lucky enough to have bees, butterflies and birds from blackbirds, an owl that I can hear hooting at night and a woodpecker in the neighbour’s tree. Along with a couple of hedgehogs that like crashing through the lavender, trampling the sweet woodruff before sitting under the table while you have a drink and a fox that meanders through the garden.

I started at an early age by helping out with weeding the family garden and spending my pocket money on plants to create floral displays in containers, before getting involved in gardening at school, the only prize I ever won at school was for ‘Gardening’, a book by David Bellamy which I still possess. The enjoyment continued wherever I lived, whether creating a window display in a flat from a packet of seeds, to planting up containers in rented properties before finally getting a garden of my own to experiment in.

Initially I studied Ecology and Environment Management at the University of York before going on to complete the RHS level 2 certificate in Horticulture. Building on this I gained a Diploma (with merit) in Garden Design from the Inchbald School of Design. Since then I have continued to create gardens of all sizes for clients. I love the buzz of seeing the clients’ excitement at the finished space and going back to see how clients are getting the most out of their garden. And never happier than being knee deep in plants, wandering around a nursery for inspiration or giving the garden its softer elements by planting up.

Combining the skills of a garden designer with having spent many years working in project management I am happy to take on the monitoring of your project, liaising with landscapers, specialist contractors and suppliers to take the stress out of the build process.

Professional Organisations

• Pre-Registered Member of the Society of Garden Designers
• Member of the Association of Project Management (MAPM)
• Member of the Chartered Management Institute (MCMI)

Further Reading

If you’re looking for ideas for your garden but aren’t quite ready to commit to hiring a designer, you might like to read a blog or two. Or flick through an article or two that I’ve written for Handpicked Local.