I trained formally in garden design relatively recently at the Inchbald, but have been planning, building and looking after my own gardens for years. And the eclectic career path I have followed over this time has, I think, helped to shape me into the unique designer I am today.

I originally studied geography at Oxford University, followed by a hectic couple of years in the city, and then ten very happy years at Shell, running manufacturing plants across the world. After having my children, I moved into a number of paid and voluntary roles in major donor fundraising at charities including the Natural History Museum, the National Trust and Wellbeing of Women. Just prior to Covid, I went back to university and completed a bachelor’s and master’s in History of Art at the Courtauld, specialising in the religious art of medieval England — a subject I found utterly fascinating and am ever hopeful will come in useful one day!

Alongside my garden design I work part-time as a volunteer counsellor at HMP Wandsworth and The Listening Place — a charity that provides free, ongoing, face-to-face support for people who feel life is no longer worth living — and I believe that time spent in these roles makes my work as a designer even stronger. Both counselling and design begin with really taking the time to listen to the client, to understand not only what they say they want but what they really need, and I think this approach is what makes my design work so unique. Fundamentally, I want to build gardens that just feel like you, that reflect what makes you feel truly at home, and give you the space to just be.

“I believe that at present we must paint nature’s rich and magnificent aspects; we need good cheer and happiness, hope and love.” Vincent van Gogh, in a letter to his sister Willemien, 1889