‘Tell us about your background’

I’m a qualified landscape architect, but I moved into the garden design world about 20 years ago. At that point, I started working with Tobermore, doing mostly on-site consultations with clients.

‘What’s the biggest challenge in your role?’

A big part of my job is teasing out exactly what a client wants for their outdoor space. Often they know roughly what they want in their head, but it can be difficult for them to explain or they haven’t really thought about it in much detail. For example, outdoor rooms are really popular at the moment, but clients aren’t always sure what kind of outdoor room they want. So now I turn up with lots of photos and say “Are you thinking of that, or that?” and then we work from there.

‘Are there any memorable projects you can tell us about?’

I had a client recently whose son is a wheelchair user. He really enjoyed being in the garden, so we needed to consider accessibility a lot within the design, such as slopes and ramps. The client had her own preferences for the garden too, so it was important that the design took everyone’s needs into consideration.

‘What are the popular trends in garden design at the moment?’

A lot of people are going for the Chelsea look – white walls, light-coloured or silver paving. The garden trends tend to follow through from interior design. A lot of people think it’s about looking at the outside of the house and trying to match the colours up. But you actually see a garden from the inside out most of the time, so it’s more about matching the outdoors to the interior style.

Outdoor fireplaces in covered areas are very popular, too. Everything has gone a bit more ‘outdoor room’ since the COVID-19 pandemic – people want to be outside and using their space to maximum advantage.

‘What’s popular in paving at the moment?’

Historic is very popular right now, because it looks great and it’s low maintenance too. Mayfair Graphite (it’s that silvery colour paving trend again) is also very popular. Especially with the white wall look people are going for; the graphite paving really pops.

‘What’s your favourite Tobermore product to work with?’

I do like Historic, because it can be more curvy and organic-looking. I’m probably a more traditional kind of person! But Historic is very versatile – you can put it with white walls and you can put it with everything else, and it just works. I’ve got it in my garden, and I just love it.

‘What’s your top tip for anyone wanting to redesign their garden?’

Choose materials and planting that match your gardening abilities. If you struggle to maintain your garden, opt for lower maintenance paving, planting and other features – such as a simple bird bath instead of a fancy water feature that needs regular upkeep.