Hi, I’m Teresa,
I am a horticulturalist and garden designer based in Henley-on-Thames and I specialise in creating modern, plant-rich gardens inspired by natural landscapes.
This page is about my background and how it has influenced how I am creating and looking after gardens today.
My way into Horticulture
It was during my time at university in Berlin, studying for a Bachelor Degree in Chemistry that I decided to take a gap year, travelling the UK and volunteering with organic smallholdings. I enjoyed working in small, productive gardens so much, that when it was time to go back to university, I decided to stay on in the UK instead and eventually found employment with a local Wholesale Plant Nursery that specialised in selling herbaceous perennials to garden- and landscape designers. In the evenings I studied for my RHS Level 2 and later Level 3 qualifications alongside learning about propagating plants and plant husbandry at the nursery. It was a steep learning curve. When it was time to move on, I started working in garden maintenance as a freelancer, at the beginning together with other gardeners, but I quickly set myself up with my own clients, specialising in border maintenance and work requiring my horticultural knowledge, for example pruning shrubs or roses or dividing herbaceous perennials.
Moving towards Garden Design
Through my gardening work I was often approached with questions ranging from plant choices for a border to designing or redesigning the planting of one or multiple borders, clients asking me to reshape borders and paths to make them fit in better, laying stepping stones. It sparked an interest in wanting to learn more about the landscaping and design side of horticulture and eventually led me to signing up to a garden design course resulting in a Diploma in Garden Design. I was curious about the idea of garden design and was looking for strategies and methods that would help me in creating professional scale plants and allow me to offer advice and designs in a more professional way.
Finding Purpose
On finishing the diploma course in 2021, my journey of finding my particular style and niche began. I have had an interest in naturalistic planting and herbaceous perennial plants since working at the Wholesale Plant Nursery and knew that this style would be the focus of my planting design work. I also knew that I wanted to be able to offer both garden design and garden maintenance as I believe deeply that both go hand in hand, having seen and heard of many gardens that had been designed beautifully but didn’t reach their full potential
Many attended webinars and read books on planting design later and admittedly with the help of a business coach, I am now much clearer of the direction I am going in.
Today
Sitting within Naturalistic Planting Styles, the planting schemes I create today focus around ecological function, beauty and year-round interest of the plants within. On top of that, plants are selected for their resilience and how they support biodiversity, creating plantings which require less input in maintaining them. The naturalistic planting is framed by modern design elements and clean lines, setting of the often looser planting.
I believe design, establishment and aftercare of a garden go hand in hand and are one long process. In creating lower input gardens, a creative way of maintaining them is required so that the plantings remain diverse and the design remains legible. This is where Creative Maintenance comes in where I offer a gardening service that follows the ethos of the plantings I create.
Credentials
Diploma in Garden Design - Distinction - Oxford College of Garden DesignRHS Level 3 in the Principles of Horticulture - Berkshire College of AgricultureRHS Level 2 in the Principals of Horticulture - Berkshire College of Agriculture
Nearly a decade experience in horticulturevolunteering work with organic smallholdings (WWOOF UK)working at a Specialist Plant Nursery supplying Herbaceous Perennials (two years)Freelance Garden Maintenance work (since 2017)
