Curating a beautiful garden takes time, understanding of plants and a lot of trial and error.
Thankfully, if you are strapped for time but still want your outdoor space to look good, there are people out there that can help.
From choosing what to plant in your window box or on your balcony, to a full garden redesign, London is a hotspot for garden and planting designers.
Here are five of London's hottest gardeners and landscape designers to help you bring out the best in your outside space. All have a strong Instagram presence, making it really easy to gauge both the vibe and the size of projects they normally work on.
With several gold medals under his belt for designs at RHS shows, Tom Massey has gone from one-to-watch to much-sought-after. He brings a different angle to design and planting, with a focus on sustainablility, resilience and biodiversity, as seen in his Chelsea Flower Show garden this year, created for the Royal Entomological society. You can get a flavour of Massey's approach in his new book RHS Resilient Garden or hire him to create a scheme for you with rates starting from £400 plus VAT per square metre.
Multi-award winner and 2017 RHS Young Garden Designer of the Year, Ula Maria is increasingly known for her intricate urban gardens. Her stylised naturalistic planting for small spaces combines traditional paving materials such as brick, stone and tiles, handsomely integrated with one another. The minimum project value starts at about £50,000 for a small site. Maria has also published Green, a great book if you are seeking small space inspiration.
The practice behind Paddington's Floating Pocket Park was founded by horticulturist and designer Tony Woods and has been transforming and maintaining gardens across the capital since 2012, winning two Chelsea gold medals. It is the full package, offering design, build and aftercare services depending on your creative requirements, with urban gardens costing from £100,000, although it does take on smaller balcony and roof terrace projects if brief and budget are feasible.
It is also one of the most respectable horticultural employers in the capital, championing fair pay, career progression and professional development for all the team.
@gardenslondon; gardenclublondon.co.uk
In 2009 Isabelle Palmer founded The Balcony Gardener in response to the need for small-space designers in the city. She has published several books on indoor and outdoor gardening, with a particular focus on containers. Get in touch with Palmer and her team online for bespoke advice on projects from window boxes (£165) to container gardens (from £1,950).
@thebalconygardener; thebalconygardener.com
Susanna Grant runs HELLOTHERELINDA, a courtyard-cum-shady plant shop a few minutes away from Columbia Road Flower market. When she isn't running the shop (open only on Sundays) she can be found working across London, designing light-touch schemes featuring English-grown plants. Book an hour consultation for £120 before Susanna provides you with anything from a planting plan (from £350) or a full garden scheme (from £2,000 including plan, sourcing, buying and planting).
@hellotherelinda
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