With the on-going changes to our climate, it is becoming difficult for gardeners and garden designers to ignore its consequences. With this in mind, we are having to change the way we garden and design and we are always learning. We are beginning to look more at drought tolerant plants, or strong plants that can cope with extreme weather conditions, and here in the Peak District we have our own micro climate.

I have been designing gardens and planting designs for just over 4 years and have been a gardener since childhood and professionally for over four years. I tend to favour the ecologically designed garden that accepts wildlife and an abundance of biodiversity. I have knowledge and experience of working in the area of community gardens and designing wildlife friendly gardens. My planting designs are sustainable and naturalistic and can sometimes be wild, if I’m allowed to be. But equally I can restrain the design to a minimalist approach with a limited plant palette, or a simple country garden with a flower meadow.

I come from a family of horticulturalists and designers and naturally we work in a collaborative way to give our clients a design-through- to-build package tailored to your requirements.

I completed my Garden Design Diploma with Honours at KLC school of design. I have studied with Nigel Dunnett & Noel Kingsbury and in the past I have studied with Martin Crawford, founder of the Agroforestry Research Trust.

Many years ago, I ran a business specialising in medicinal & plant based foods and spent many years growing specialised and traditional medicinal plants to use in my cooking and healing classes. One of my first careers was as a film editor working with National Geographic, and there I learned how important it is to preserve nature for all life on the planet.

My approach is to create naturalistic and ecological designs well suited to the local environment. Using my approach, you will get a rich, bio-diverse landscape for both you and nature to enjoy for many years. This will also yield a year-round garden with interest going beyond the simplistic ‘four seasons’ understanding of nature.

Philosophy

I can collaborate with you to realise your dream garden. My design philosophy is to respond intuitively to your needs and to carefully integrate a naturally flowing outdoor space with plants and materials that sympathetically blend to the character and location of each particular site. It can take many years for a garden to become established after a new design and it is wonderful to see it emerge in all its beauty.