Sophia's Gardens

Our medium-sized urban garden had served our children well as a playground while they were growing up, but after they left home, it was badly in need of transformation. Overgrown borders surrounding a large expanse of grass just didn't inspire us. What we wanted was a redesign to create a garden for wildlife - including a long-wished-for pond - that provided colour, interest and variety all year long, and that made us want to get out there and garden! So we called Sophia, who came and talked to us about our vision, provided us with invaluable advice and suggestions, carefully measured the dimensions and took account of prospects, surroundings and orientation - not to mention the heavy clay soil - and came up with a design that we loved. It included a whole new set of borders with perennials, shrubs, grasses, trees and bulbs, a wildflower meadow, a good-sized pond and pergola, winding paths and a beautiful perspective in the shape of a water feature. After the landscaping and pond installation, when we were consulted at every stage, we were fully involved in the planting of both garden and pond. Sophia's use of sustainable materials and organically grown plants exactly fitted our vision. Now, after three seasons of enjoying our new garden and the large numbers of birds and insects it's attracted (including some beautiful dragonflies), we're watching our hundreds of spring flowers appear, and eagerly anticipating the appearance of frogs in the pond. We couldn't be more pleased with the result - Sophia has done a wonderful job.

Our garden design and build experience with Sophia has been transformative. From using our brief to develop initial ideas, through to presenting creative concepts and technical drawings, Sophia has always been professional and friendly, drawing upon her broad range of knowledge and expertise. Both Sophia and we probably stepped a little out of our comfort zone with aspects of the design, but we felt she always took time to understand what we wanted. And as garden novices we felt in safe hands with her wildlife-friendly planting plan. During the construction phase she regularly inspected progress on site to ensure everything was going to plan, and always had a practical solution to any challenges that arose. As a result, our rather bland suburban garden is now a Japanese-influenced, wildlife-friendly haven that we’ll enjoy through every season, and at any time of day.

Had my small-midsize garden completely redesigned by Sophia who also organized&overviewed the actual implementation. Very professional but also friendly and helpful. Good suggestions. It was fun to work with her! Very happy to recommend.

Sophia designed and helped bring to life my dreams for my backyard. Instead of half of the space being a parking lot/dumping space we now have a beautiful 'walled garden' with a half timbered greenhouse. Sophia produced the design and planting plan, found the greenhouse manufacturers and landscaping company. She was professional trhough out and made the process a pleasure. She was clear with her costings and so there were no hidden 'surprises' costs or extras.

Sophia made the whole process very enjoyable. We really enjoyed chatting with her and planning our project. Sophia is really knowledgeable about what is possible and especially about the plants. She also had great innovative ideas for the structure. She managed the building of the garden so we didn't need to worry. I feel she read what my husband and I wanted very well and we love the finished garden.

I'm a total garden novice and my space is a blank canvass. I hired Sophia to design a garden with flow but distinct zones, a space that I can enjoy in different settings but that is also low maintenance and idiot-proof. Her consultation really explored all the things I care about and what kind of style/ethos the garden should employ. As a result I have a design I believe will excel and be just what I was looking for. It was a pleasure working together on this.

Sophia designed a garden for our new build home. We had lots of ideas but no confidence with where to start or whether we'd be able to make it look good. Sophia listened to all the information we gave her and was able to design something that included everything we wanted and ideas we would never have thought of. She spent lots of time with us patiently answering questions about the plan and planting so we feel really confident moving forward now. We are so happy with our design and can't wait to get started. Sophia was friendly and professional throughout, the service was excellent.

Sophia was very efficient, responsive and importantly delivered our design work on time. She is very creative, listens carefully to requirements and helpfully pushed our thinking further which has resulted in a great plan. She is knowledgeable, is committed to bio-diversity, and very good on detail.

We hired Sophia to provide a consultation on a garden redesign. Our project (and garden!) is pretty small, so I didn't want to get a full garden design and managed project, but the consultation with Sophia was exactly what was needed. From the initial phone call through to a sketch plan tailored to my garden, Sophia was good at communicating the process, her ideas, and understanding what we needed from our garden and from the consultation. We have come away with a scale drawing of the garden, with the necessary features and measurements, all ready for starting the DIY parts and that is suitable to share with a landscaper for the parts we can't do ourselves. If you need help to get your ideas in order, a fresh pair of eyes to offer new options, and some expert advice on what it realistic and feasible with the space and budget you have, then I highly recommend Sophia. The money we've invested at this stage on the consultation is going to carry through into adding lots of value to our finished garden.

I don't know how Sophia did it but from a few photos, a satellite image (good old google maps) and a plan from HM Land Registry she came up with a plan very close to what we had in mind. Sophia listened and converted what we said accurately into our plan. Thank you!

Starting with a new build garden in a windy area and difficult soil conditions, consulting with Sophia was time well spent. As DIY gardeners we were given excellent advice on layout, plant options and do's and don'ts to proceed with a lot more confidence.

Sophia came highly recommended by a friend whose garden she had re-designed. We found her inspirational ideas really captured our imagination and she has created for us the perfect mix of modern and traditional design combined with superb planting schemes totally in-keeping with our environment. Sophia consulted with us at every stage and the project was managed to perfection. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend her.