Increasingly my clients are being asked for schemes that will provide biodiversity gains, be sustainable, and of course be low maintenance. To do this contemporary planting design has to bridge the gap between ecology, landscape design and gardening.

I combine my training in ecology with nearly 20 years experience in landscape design and a lifetime of gardening. I consult for landscape architects, garden designers, landscape contractors, local authorities and private clients.

My approach has evolved as my experience has grown. These days I tend towards simplicity, which means using only plants I know are reliable and require little attention. Nature is always the best guide. I construct my schemes in light of plant community dynamics, habitat stereotypes and other ecological models.

No planting scheme is zero maintenance, I don’t want to over promise on that. But if designed intelligently planting schemes can be much less maintenance than mown grass. On average, once established you can expect a maximum of 4 annual visits to these schemes and in some cases less.