Illustration of gardening tools crossed with a trowel and paintbrush, accompanied by a flower, a bee, and a leaf, with the text 'The Art & Craft of Gardening'

Welcome to the Art and Craft of gardening…Garden design and horticulture  for creative gardeners. 

Have you ever thought that you could do so much more with your garden but you just don’t know where to start? There is often a disconnect between what a gardener envisions for their space, and what it currently looks like. Gorgeous borders, seasonal colour, and year round interest can be difficult to achieve. A well designed, beautifully planted and cared-for garden is a sanctuary. A messy, overgrown outdoor space is overwhelming, and stressful.

If you’ve ever felt that your garden could be your canvas but you just don’t have quite the right tools, the time, or the help then you’ve come to the right place. 

I am an Edinburgh based gardener and garden designer. I specialise in ornamental gardens and I love creating beautiful, plant centred, timeless gardens.

Horticulture and design services for plant lovers, creative gardeners and garden enthusiasts.


Do any of these sound familiar? :

  • I love gardening, and visit gardens regularly but I don't know how to translate what I see into my own space.

  • I value beauty, and it is important to me that my home, and outdoor space reflect that. I am happy with my indoor space, but don't know how to get the same results in my garden.

  • I want a peaceful, green sanctuary but I am overwhelmed with plant choice, I don’t know what should go where.

  • I want a beautiful garden year round, billowing with colour, scent and interest - but I’ve no idea how to get there.

  •  I know I need to introduce structure to bring my outdoor space together but I don't know what would work, and what features should go where.

Whether your outdoor space lacks cohesion and requires a new layout to pull it together, or the overall design works but the planting isn’t quite right -  combining design principles, coupled with good plant choice and good gardening practices can create a garden which is vibrant, beautiful, and interesting year-round.

Learn more
Watercolor logo for 'The Art & Craft of Gardening' featuring gardening tools crossed, a pink flower, a bee, and a leaf.
Persicaria amplexicaulis, Edinburgh.
Summer planting design: a garden with colorful purple, pink, and white flowers along a pathway under a sunny sky with clouds.
A well-maintained garden with colorful flowers, green grass, a blue shed, and surrounded by trees under a partly cloudy sky.
Country garden planting design : a lush garden with a stone patio, vibrant flowers, green shrubs, trees, and a blue shed in the background under a partly cloudy sky.
Wildlife friendly planting design, Scotland. A narrow flower bed with tall, purple flowering plants and yellow ornamental grasses in front of a house with a black front door, white framed windows, and a beige exterior with red brick accents.
Naturalistic planting design, Edinburgh: A backyard deck with a garden, potted plants, and outdoor furniture under a partly cloudy sky.
Flower filled borders: a vibrant garden with colorful flowers and greenery, a patio table and chairs, a glass conservatory, and houses with red-tiled roofs under a sunny blue sky.
A female gardener standing outdoors near a tree and a river with a waterfall in the background, wearing a dark jacket, scarf, and glove.

I’ve been a professional gardener for the past 17 years…

Over the last decade I’ve built my own business through word of mouth alone. Specialising in ornamental horticulture, I offer Garden design, development and consulting services throughout Edinburgh, the Lothians and surrounding areas- from tiny New town City gardens, to large country homes.

Background

I trained at the Royal Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh and hold a DIPLOMA in Horticulture with Plantsmanship with Distinction. I followed this with a year-long internship in Planting design, and HISTORIC GARDEN MANAGEMENT at Cambo Estate in Fife . This was a pivotal year spent saturating in art and design theory, planting, and garden management. What I learnt during this time really forms the backbone of what I do now.

From there I spent two and a half years as Head Gardener at GreyWalls Hotel in East Lothian: a historic Arts and Crafts country Estate designed by Sir Edward Lutyens, with the original garden attributed to Gertrude Jekyll. Other significant experiences include interning at Laos Botanical Gardens, developing and running a cut flower business, training as a florist, and creating wedding florals for clients.

I’ve maintained gardens for some of Edinburgh’s top designers, spent time in specialist plant nurserys, maintained indoor plant collections, and looked after tropical glasshouses. I’ve been responsible for propagating thousands of seedlings for annual displays, from sowing, and pricking out, to final planting. I’ve planted thousands, and thousands of bulbs, and mulched many borders….all these experiences and more have informed my love of gardens and gardening as a creative art.

I am most passionate about the beauty of nature and the artistic side of gardening. I see gardens as a canvas and I love applying the principles of Art and design on the micro and macro: the daily tasks, and the overall design of a space.

I am currently studying Botanical art, and spent several years in the City of Edinburgh Music School growing up. Of all the arts and crafts I’ve studied I’ve found that music with it’s tenets of Rhythm, and Timing to be a uniquely transferable skill in the garden.

If you would like to see my current projects, and day to day work feel free to have a look: @terranova_gardening


Persicaria amplexicaulis, Edinburgh.
Summer planting design: a garden with colorful purple, pink, and white flowers along a pathway under a sunny sky with clouds.
A well-maintained garden with colorful flowers, green grass, a blue shed, and surrounded by trees under a partly cloudy sky.
Country garden planting design : a lush garden with a stone patio, vibrant flowers, green shrubs, trees, and a blue shed in the background under a partly cloudy sky.
Wildlife friendly planting design, Scotland. A narrow flower bed with tall, purple flowering plants and yellow ornamental grasses in front of a house with a black front door, white framed windows, and a beige exterior with red brick accents.
Naturalistic planting design, Edinburgh: A backyard deck with a garden, potted plants, and outdoor furniture under a partly cloudy sky.
Flower filled borders: a vibrant garden with colorful flowers and greenery, a patio table and chairs, a glass conservatory, and houses with red-tiled roofs under a sunny blue sky.