Garden Design - Selected Works
Modern Family Garden Design – Craiglockhart, Edinburgh
Project Brief
A young family had moved into a property where the outdoor space felt unsafe and disconnected, uneven levels, conflicting slopes and poorly defined boundaries made the garden difficult to use and visually unsettled. They wanted a space that felt safe, cohesive and practical for everyday family life.
Design Response
The design resolves level changes into clean, safe transitions and generous, usable zones. Durable porcelain paving, composite decking and lawn create flexible areas for seating, play and movement, giving the family a space that works effortlessly day to day.
Structural planting softens boundaries and introduces rhythm and identity, balancing openness with enclosure. The planting framework is designed with the possibility to add in over time, allowing the garden to evolve naturally as the family grows into it.
Small Garden Design for New Build Homes – St Crispin's Road, Edinburgh
Brief
Cala Homes required affordable show gardens at St Crispins that would demonstrate how compact new-build outdoor spaces could feel welcoming, practical and aspirational, without increasing maintenance demands or cost complexity.
Design Response
The design introduces warmth and character through a carefully balanced material palette of porcelain paving, clay pavers and self-binding gravel, softening the often rigid language of new-build development. Structural planting and resilient, low-maintenance species bring texture, seasonal interest and biodiversity, with scented plants woven through key thresholds to enhance everyday experience. The result is a series of gardens that feel generous and thoughtfully composed, demonstrating how intelligent design can elevate even modest footprints.
Sloped Garden Design – Comiston, Edinburgh
Brief
The client wanted a garden that felt like a natural extension of their home, more private, more usable and capable of securing planning approval within a sensitive conservation setting. The steep topography, existing boundary structures and planning constraints presented both challenge and opportunity
Design Response
The design reworks the levels to transform what was once an unsafe, underused slope into a secure and welcoming garden. A redundant wall was dismantled, with reclaimed stone reused in a gabion retaining structure that reshapes the site and increases usable space while strengthening the garden’s identity.
A refined material and planting palette introduces cohesion and softness, balancing structural intervention with ecological sensitivity. The result is a garden that feels integrated with the house, respectful of its setting and significantly more functional for everyday life.
Tiered Garden Design – Roslin, Edinburgh
Brief
A new-build garden in Roslin presented as a simple sloped lawn, exposed, lacking privacy and offering little opportunity for meaningful use. The client wanted a space that felt more structured and atmospheric, with distinct areas for socialising and quiet retreat.
Design Response
The design introduces a tiered layout that resolves the level change into purposeful zones, creating both openness and enclosure within a modest footprint. A treated larch structure provides vertical definition and privacy, while layered, sensory planting brings seasonal interest, texture and softness. The result is a garden that feels composed and intimate, transforming a generic lawn into a space with identity, function and atmosphere.
Small Garden Design – Canonmills, Edinburgh
Brief
Within a compact footprint, this project sought to create a workshop garden for a carpenter, a space that felt calm, characterful and reflective of craft. The challenge was to shape a meaningful, usable environment.
Design Response
The design introduces a loose, naturalistic structure that contrasts with the precision of the workshop. A curved rustic stone wall defines the space and provides enclosure, while rockery planting softens its edge and reinforces a grounded, textural character.
Designated seating areas allow for pause and contemplation, transforming the limited footprint into a serene and purposeful outdoor retreat. The result is a garden that feels intimate and carefully composed , demonstrating how thoughtful spatial planning can bring atmosphere and identity to even the smallest sites.
Family Garden Design – Cammo, Edinburgh
Brief
This new-build garden in Cammo was intended to become a generous, sociable space for a family who love to entertain. The existing levels limited usability, and the garden needed clearer structure, sensory richness and defined areas for gathering.
Design Response
The design resolves the slope by introducing two purposeful tiers, creating distinct yet connected zones for dining, socialising and everyday use. Level changes are handled cleanly to maximise usable space while maintaining flow throughout the garden.
A sensory pebble walk, water features and scented structural planting introduce texture, movement and sound, adding atmosphere without compromising practicality. The result is a garden that feels open and welcoming, yet layered and immersive, designed to host both lively gatherings and quieter moments
New-Build Garden Design – Rosewell, West Lothian
Rosewell, East Lothian
Brief
A couple sought to transform a blank-canvas new-build garden into a more structured and atmospheric space, centred around a pergola feature and the calming presence of water. Privacy, vertical definition and a stronger planting framework were key ambitions within the open setting.
Design Response
The design introduces a crafted Larch pergola as the spatial anchor, creating enclosure and focus within the garden. The gentle sound of water permeates the space, adding movement and tranquillity to the overall atmosphere.
Vertical structure is reinforced through Italian cypress and pleached trees, filtering views while establishing rhythm and height. Swathes of ornamental grasses and mixed herbaceous planting soften the hard landscape, bringing seasonal texture and biodiversity.
Sloped Garden Design – Cammo, Edinburgh
Brief
This sloped new-build garden required careful regrading to create usable space and establish a stronger relationship with a newly installed conservatory. The challenge was to resolve levels in a way that felt natural, cohesive and architecturally connected to the house.
Design Response
Calculated earthworks were used to form a series of structured zones stepping gently through the site, improving usability while maintaining visual flow from the conservatory. Each level creates a defined yet connected area for different uses, ensuring the garden feels generous rather than fragmented.
Layered planting helps distinguish the zones while softening transitions, bringing texture and seasonal interest throughout. Continuity is reinforced through consistent cladding and bullnosed coping details, tying the levels together and strengthening the overall architectural language. The result is a garden that feels integrated with the house, transforming a challenging slope into a structured, cohesive and functional outdoor space.
Japanese-Inspired Garden Design – Gilmerton, Edinburgh
Brief
(Delivered as Design & Pre-Construction Manager at Armstrong Gardens & Landscapes)
This new-build garden was designed to reflect the client’s preference for a refined Japanese aesthetic, while responding to the Scottish climate and setting. The brief called for calm structure, sculptural presence and sensory depth within a contemporary residential plot.
Design Response
A bespoke, Japanese fire-treated pergola forms the architectural focal point, accompanied by sculptural timber posts that introduce rhythm and vertical emphasis. Polished concrete boulders and a water feature bring weight and movement to the composition, allowing the sound of water to gently permeate the space.
Planting blends Japanese Acers and Prunus species with carefully selected elements inspired by the Scottish landscape, creating a layered palette that feels both culturally referential and contextually grounded.
Contemporary Garden Design for a Garden Room – Vernonholme, Dundee
Brief
(Delivered in the role of Design & Pre-Construction Manager at Armstrong Gardens & Landscapes)
This project centred around a contemporary Urban Pod garden room, with the client seeking a simple, functional and low-maintenance landscape that complemented the clean architectural form. The challenge was to create structure and identity within a compact footprint, while maintaining clarity and ease of upkeep.
Design Response
The design adopts a restrained material palette and clear spatial organisation to support the garden room as the focal point. A bespoke iroko-clad natural stone seat anchors the space, providing both function and sculptural presence, while a Moongate and Urbis bowl introduce framed views and subtle focal moments.
Planting is deliberately composed to maintain simplicity and long-term manageability, ensuring the space feels calm and cohesive rather than overworked. The project was managed from initial survey and concept development through to specification, tendering and planting implementation, maintaining continuity from design intent to delivery.
The result is a garden that feels composed and purposeful, enhancing the architecture while remaining practical and easy to live with.
Naturalistic Cottage Garden Planting – Prestonfield, Edinburgh
Brief
Overlooking Arthur’s Seat, this cottage garden planting design in Prestonfield, Edinburgh sought to reintroduce colour, softness and rustic charm while strengthening the connection to the surrounding landscape.
Design Response
The design draws inspiration from traditional cottage planting, layering rich mixed herbaceous species to create depth, seasonal interest and movement. Reclaimed brick and gravel introduce warmth and texture, while a planted wisteria pergola frames views and provides vertical structure.
Extensive soil improvement formed the foundation for success, allowing planting to establish quickly and develop into dense, immersive beds. The result is a flourishing, characterful garden that feels both intimate and connected to its wider landscape context.
Family Garden Design – Linlithgow, West Lothian
Brief
This project called for a versatile family garden that could support everyday life, from food cultivation and relaxed fireside evenings to imaginative, open-ended play for children. The space needed to feel robust and practical, yet welcoming and cohesive.
Design Response
The design balances utility and atmosphere through clear zoning and durable material choices. A bespoke play fort and slide introduce a strong focal point for children’s exploration, while dedicated areas for growing and fireside seating create space for gathering and slower moments.
Corten steel planters and edging provide structure and longevity, complemented by self-binding gravel that enhances drainage and practicality. The rustic material palette softens the overall composition, ensuring the garden feels grounded and harmonious rather than overly formal. The result is a resilient, multi-functional garden that supports play, productivity and relaxation in equal measure.
Family Garden Design for a Large Garden – Larbert, West Lothian
Brief
This project involved reimagining a large but underutilised garden that lacked structure and purpose. The client wanted to retain a generous lawn for their son to play football, while introducing clearer organisation and defined areas to encourage movement and everyday use.
Design Response
The design establishes a strong spatial framework that balances open play space with purposeful zones for family activity. Circulation routes and defined planting areas draw movement through the garden, encouraging engagement with the full extent of the site rather than concentrating use in one area.
While preserving the central lawn as an active play surface, complementary zones introduce variety and structure — ensuring the garden feels intentional, cohesive and adaptable to changing family needs.
The result is a revitalised landscape that feels generous yet organised, supporting both energetic play and relaxed family time
Country Garden Design – Dalkeith, East Lothian
Brief
Set within a newly converted farmstead on the outskirts of Dalkeith, this blank-canvas garden required structure and identity while responding to expansive countryside views. The client sought a series of defined outdoor rooms to accommodate social gatherings, open lawn space, sensory planting walks and more private areas for retreat.
Design Response
The design organises the garden into a sequence of interconnected spaces, each shaped to support different modes of use while maintaining a coherent overall framework. A central walkway is defined by pleached trees, creating a strong axial alignment that draws the eye toward a pair of mature Irish yews, carefully positioned to frame the landscape beyond.
At the far end of the garden, a monolithic vertical sleeper structure provides a bold focal point, grounding the composition. A multi-stem Tibetan cherry and layered structural planting soften these architectural elements, introducing seasonal interest and movement.
The result is a garden that balances openness and enclosure, structured yet fluid, responding to both the immediate architecture and the wider countryside setting.
Planting Design & Horticulture – Edinburgh and the Lothians
The studio brings extensive horticultural experience gained through the long-term management of gardens and landscapes across Edinburgh and the Lothians. This has informed an approach rooted in soil health, plant behaviour, and sustainable management practices, including no-dig cultivation, self-seeding systems, and plant division. Planting design is guided by a clear understanding of site conditions, ensuring the right plants are selected for the right place and allowed to evolve naturally over time. This experience supports the creation of resilient planting design schemes for gardens across Edinburgh, the Lothians and wider Scotland.
Considering a garden project?
If you're thinking about transforming your garden, the studio would be happy to discuss your ideas and explore how the space might evolve. Get in touch to start the conversation.