TESTIMONIALS
What some happy customers have to say about my work.
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We knew we had found the right person to revive our tired and overgrown alfresco dining area when, after several searching conversations, Alison said, "what you want is an additional room to your house - but outdoors". Alison's design gave us the excellent bone structure, which together, we could clothe to create the cool, Italianate Garden, we now have.
We are delighted with this calm, low maintenance, relaxed dining and entertaining 'room'.
Vanessa and Ian, Fremlington
Alison designed and planted a beautiful seaside garden for us in Appledore. I depended on her expertise every step of the way, especially in plant selection for a garden subject to very specific conditions. The site required some hard landscaping and she was able to organize this as well. Thanks to her vision the garden is thriving and the results are spectacular. She was a pleasure to work with, making lots of site visits and patiently answering endless questions from her inexperienced client! Very highly recommended.
Julie Kidson, Appledore
After many months of deliberating over whether to use a garden designer to help with the re-design of our newbuild garden, we decided to approach Alison, and we're very glad that we did. She very kindly, carefully and patiently listened to our brief, then used her passion for gardening and design and knowledge of plants to produce a design that brought our vision to life! Although the planting is still work in progress, we absolutely love our new garden. Alison's design has completely transformed the way we use our outdoor space and we look forward to watching the garden mature over many years to come. We would highly recommend Alison to anyone thinking of using her services.
Wendy Martin, Sticklepath
Alison was asked to plan and oversee the transformation of a "blank sheet" garden such that we, as very amateurish gardeners, would end up with a nice pleasant garden that was easy to maintain. Unfortunately the whole project clashed with the Covid pandemic, so took considerably longer than we had hoped.
That said, Alison consulted with us and designed a garden that would suit us. Once approved she recommended a landscape gardener and kept us fully informed throughout his work. Subsequently she purchased all the plants for us and again recommended a small local business that would come and plant everything in pre-determined locations. This all progressed very nicely and we now have a lovely design of garden. We can't wait for the plants to grow and fulfil their promise! Alison has always been very easy to communicate with, attentive when required, and kept us informed at all stages.
Mr and Mrs Halstead, Highhampton
Thank you so much for transforming our bed of bare earth! Looking back now and comparing to our brief, we can see that you interpreted and fulfilled our requirements with great practical local knowledge of conditions, soil, weather challenges etc. Despite the temporary but necessary deer deterrent fencing we can see how the bed’s potential will develop over time. The quality of the plants were excellent and we have had no failures, even in this summer of drought the plants have developed well. We are confident that in the coming autumn and winter the bed will continue to provide colour and interest.
Mr & Mrs Ellis. South Taw
We were delighted with the design and planting plan provided by Alison. From a blank canvas, on a steep sloping, Alison sourced the workers to complete the digging and hard landscaping. We did have some initial ideas and Alison incorporated those into her overall plan. She sourced all the plants at a great price and was very helpful in the actual planting phase ensuring everything was suitably positioned and prepared to the extent that there was only one casualty from over 150 plants. Now the south facing site is starting to fill out and, despite the drought this summer, has survived very well.
Mr and Mrs Hester, Weare Gifford
Alison transformed our mud heap of a garden after we moved into our newly built bungalow. There was nothing apart from mud! There were mature pine trees at the bottom of our garden, together with a small stream. Alison listened to our thoughts and ideas and advised where necessary and guided us through the process. Her very detailed and precisely drawn plans for our garden was amazing. She had interpreted our ideas along with her knowledge and skill and created something beautiful.
Her detailed planting guide was a huge help as our knowledge of plants and shrubs is quite limited. We didn't want grass, but wanted all year round colour and structure and Alison delivered on every count. She is very knowledgeable and has a passion for plants and we wouldn't hesitate to recommend her. Thank you Alison for our beautiful garden.
Mrs C Crowe, Holsworthy
After many years deliberating over what to do with our slopping garden at the back of our house, we asked Alison to take a look. She came up with a creative design, which incorporated a patio area, walls and steps complimenting both the house and garden.
What impressed us was the way she listened to our ideas and incorporated these into the design which is both practical and beautiful. Fully recommend her.
Mr S Evans, Bishops Tawton
We moved into a brand new house with the land around it just a mud pile after all the rain of the winter of 2018. The site was not easy to develop with quite a slope away from the house. We had a few ideas of what we did and didn’t want but no idea how to achieve something that worked.
Alison came in and listened to what we wanted, no lawns, a water feature, areas of privacy, easy maintenance. She drew up a plan and after getting agreement introduced us to a landscaper who did all the hard landscaping. She then drew up lists of plants and did the bulk of the planting. We now have a garden with structure and form which is going to develop as the plants grow and spread and she has given us something quite special. We are looking forward to many years of pleasure from it.
Alison has done an excellent job for us and she is a pleasure to deal with. She listens to what the client wants and makes that her focus but adds her own ideas based on her experience and knowledge. We would have no hesitation in recommending her to anyone. Two years later our garden is full of colour and texture and has given us much pleasure this past summer of Covid 19 restrictions.
Mr & Mrs H, Crediton
Alison came quite late to our project as we were doing a major refurbishment of a large Edwardian house overlooking the Taw estuary. Thankfully she was undaunted by the scale of the project which was a building site when she arrived! Alison’s plans helped us visualize the various spaces in what is a very complex garden on different levels and we developed each section bit by bit. She also brought much needed plant expertise to the project, selecting appropriate plants for our windy, coastal, but very contemporary garden. We wanted it to look good year round but remain low maintenance as we are often away.
One year on, the garden areas look wonderful and it has been a great success. With hindsight, it would have helped if we had involved Alison with this huge project sooner so we could have developed the project along with the architect and the builders.
Alison still visits on occasion to maintain and re-evaluate areas that may still be improved and is always there for advice and support. We would happily recommend her to anyone considering hiring a garden designer. Ours now looks fabulous and we’re very happy to be in her portfolio on her website.
Mrs E Clifford, Instow.
We had an existing vegetable garden on a fertile, but steeply sloping, site which we were anxious to improve. We had a rough notion of what we wanted to achieve using raised beds, but Alison grasped our ideas and developed it into a solution that combined both aesthetic and practical elements into the final design.
The result is an aesthetically pleasing, practical and immensely productive vegetable garden which we are enjoying enormously. We anticipate years of pleasure from it.
Mr and Mrs NL, Chagford.
We initially contacted several garden designers who appeared disinterested in designing our garden project due to the incline and small size of the garden. Also access to our garden is down 15 steps and quite difficult which was certainly going to cause a problem. Alison enjoyed designing our garden and assured us that all problems would be overcome.
Alison designed a modern easily maintained garden space with a large decking and built up bedding areas.
She organised builders, electricians and planting. Alison was always on hand ensuring the builders did exactly what she envisaged was right for our garden. After several months the garden came together, the subtle lighting, plants and decking. It is so wonderful to sit in the garden without fear of falling off the seats due to the incline - and how she managed to make it look twice the size I do not know.
The wildlife loves it and so do we. I look at the garden and all I say is WOW - I am so happy as I never dreamed that I would have a garden like this. If there are issues with plants all I do is Email Alison who gives us advice; she has also given us a step by step maintenance plan. I can definitely recommend Alison for any project large or small.
Mrs S E , Bideford.
Alison was recommended by the company that did the hard landscaping in our Bideford garden. She took time to understand what we wanted from the garden and to incorporate plants that we had already accumulated and brought with us from our previous garden in London. She blended our ideas with lots of excellent suggestions for each area of the garden. The eventual height of plants was important, as was the view from our "upside down" house as we wanted the garden to look good when viewed from above as well as at ground level.
Alison gave us a wonderful design and planting list which we followed closely. The plan provided structure in terms of shrubs and perennials, and we've added bulbs, annuals and other plants to infill different areas, as well as replacing some originals that didn't thrive in our garden. Alison's extensive knowledge of plants is invaluable, but she also understands Devon clay and helped us work with the conditions and appreciate the importance of 'right plant, right place'. Gardening is all about a journey and we've learned a lot along the way, with Alison's generous advice and guidance. We highly recommend her.
K Plum. Bideford
I've been working with Alison on an evolving project for just over a year and she continues to be a pleasure to work with. Alisons ability to understand what I'm looking for and to guide me to what I really need always makes me smile. I've always been impressed by Alison's relaxed and understanding approach and she has acted as a great mentor and collaborator in our project. I would highly recommend Alison for any project, large or small and would use her again in probably will in the future.
J Cater. Chagford
Alison designed our new garden and advised on the landscaper to deliver the best results. She listened to our requirements for a new garden having been left with a "builders garden" behind our new bungalow. She has a great way of speaking plainly with good common sense and using her comprehensive knowledge of plants and gardens in this part of the country. We have no hesitation in recommending her. A video of the resulting garden is on her website (the Eco house in Latest Projects) - we are absolutely delighted with it!
A Trueman. Holsworthy
Alison and her team created a beautiful, usable space from an uneven and previously unloved outdoor space. Her thoughtful design and attention to detail has resulted in a lovely transformation of my garden. The recommended planting is really practical for the area that I live and is easily manageable. The whole process went without a hitch - I would thoroughly recommend her.
J Ricketts. Instow
Garden Designer Devon, Landscaper Devon, Horticultural Consultant North Devon, North Devon Garden Designer.