Planting your garden

Planting design drawing matrix for regenerative farm

Helping you to…

Get to know your borders
Solve tricky areas
Fill awkward gaps
Link your house to your garden
Update planting but keep established plants
Make your garden more manageable
Bring colour and structure throughout the year

New to your garden, or feel it’s got out of control, or simply want it look better? Not every garden needs an expensive redesign to bring it to life.

I can help you understand how you can make the most of the plants that are there. I can look at a particular section, solve problem areas, or come up with more extensive planting schemes to give your garden style and character. You might only want a small tweak, or you might be looking for a complete new scheme.

Where possible it makes sense and is more sustainable to work with what you’ve got, but there’s still ways to refresh an area or recognise what’s not working and start afresh.

From new gardens that need character to mature gardens in need of a bit of taming, and anyone craving structure and colour from one season to the next, I can help better connect you to your garden and a love of the outdoors.

I am based in north Bristol and cover the whole of Bristol and surrounding areas including Gloucestershire and Somerset. If you are outside of these areas but have a project you want to discuss, do still get in touch.

Why me?

Whether you dream of a lush cottage garden, structured architectural planting, a productive vegetable plot, or a serene woodland retreat, I love bringing different garden styles to life.

As an editor, I’ve had the privilege of working with world-class designers, getting to know their approach, and finding ways to share their vision. I’m also a regular volunteer at garden shows and have planted alongside medal winners at RHS Malvern, Chelsea and Hampton Court Palace, learning the details needed to create an award-winning garden.

With a rigorous training in planting design at London College of Garden Design and a passion for plants, I’d be delighted to help unlock your garden's potential.

How it works

STEP 1: We’ll have an initial chat on the phone to understand more about your project and what you are looking for (no fee).

STEP 2: I’ll visit your garden and spend 1-2 hours with you to get to know your site, the particular problems you want solving and learn more about the things you do and don’t like. From this, I’ll establish an overview of ideas to include a quick moodboard and sketch (£80 refundable as part of fee if we continue to the next stage).

STEP 3: If you are happy with my ideas I’ll create a planting presentation to include recommended plants, a detailed plan as to what to plant where, how many of each plant you’ll need, and an idea of how much it will cost to buy everything (fees from £280).

STEP 4: As an additional service, I can source the plants and provide an ongoing guide to maintaining your plants through the year (fees from £250 + the cost of plants).

“Sorrel did a great job of helping us work out what we wanted, and I loved how she took on board the priorities of our dog-focused household. Her design plan is presented very clearly, so we can really picture how it will all look when we’re finished. It’s going to be beautiful, and we feel really inspired to make it a reality!” Previous client