About the Designer

Since training in London in the mid-nineties and being accepted into the prestigious Society of Garden Designers in 2000, Alison has built up a wide portfolio of successful designs in the UK, France and beyond. Her sources of inspiration range from the natural environment and glorious landscapes to contemporary sculpture, art and architecture. Her gardens are characterised by their strong and confident structure, harmonising house, garden and surrounding landscape.

From her design studio among the oak woods, hay meadows and river-threaded gorges of the Lot and Dordogne borders in south-west France Alison finds constant inspiration around her as well as on her travels. Calm pools among rocks scoured by centuries of rivers in spate and the gnarled and mossy trunks of oaks on a rocky outcrop; clipped native Box bushes high above the Dordogne River or Mediterranean palms on a hillside of fragrant Myrtle; local craftsmen transforming iron, oak or stone – all form part of her palette of ideas.

A deep love of the natural world and concern for the environment lead her to use local materials wherever possible and to include in her larger projects natural hedges and woodlands as well as meadows, lakes and ponds which not only help wildlife but enrich the garden experience for her clients. Carefully crafted planting schemes suiting both climate and soil create gardens with a strong sense of place.

Current projects include a chateau in Lot-et-Garonne, an old stone farmhouse in Dordogne and a modern house with several acres in southern England. Past projects include an English Manor House in a site designated of outstanding natural beauty, and a natural hillside garden in Italy.