Meet Laura our resident Garden Designer and Plant Consultant
With a life-long passion for horticulture and design Laura trained initially at Merrist Wood College in Guildford where she did a Foundation Degree in Garden Design, during which she gained invaluable experience when she won a work placement in an open competition at Merrist Wood to work on a private estate in Tuscany, Italy where she worked for Sir Idris Pearce under the guidance of his Garden Designer on his Mediterranean gardens near Lucca, Tuscany which she absolutely loved (and who wouldn’t, in fact we’re still wondering why she ever left, but we are so pleased she did).
Laura continued gaining experience when upon her return she worked part-time at Loseley House Gardens under the Head Gardener Richard Burnip aka Burnie, for several years, and she credits him with teaching her so much from pruning roses and wisteria to collecting seeds from herbaceous perennials to be able to grow in greenhouses and so, so, so much more. He taught her how to take cuttings from Pelargoniums and other tender plants, as well as general planting and maintenance. Laura will often tell us of the fond memories she has of working with the wider team there helping care for the acclaimed walled gardens as well as the Elizabethan house which remains privately owned.
Laura then went to Sparsholt College in Winchester where she achieved a First-Class Honours Degree in Garden Design; highly qualified and with the greenest of fingers and an absolute love for plants her experience is priceless to us here at Helyers. And aside from the wealth of experience and qualifications Laura brings to Helyers, one of the other things we love so much about Laura is, that this really isn’t just a job – it’s a vocation, a true passion – gardens, gardening and plants truly runs through her veins…
In fact she has a large garden herself near the sea in Warsash, which has been a complete labour of love for the past 24 years and remains a work in progress, always growing and always evolving. With her own greenhouse for propagation and vegetable beds. There are five separate zones in the garden, all with different atmospheres and styles of planting – the love, thought, care and attention are present where every you wonder. It really is the definition of a beautiful garden!
So go on, let Laura work her magic in the beautiful garden Helyers is going to build for you with an imaginative and well considered planting plan, she will happily talk you through all aspects of the planting process.
For more details on exactly how the planting process works please go to our Planting Plan Page.