Portfolio

Designing a garden that works for eciteable children who want to launch footballs through your borders AND exhausted parents who want five minutes of peace with a coffee is genuinely challenging. Most families end up with one of two disasters: either a garden completely surrendered to plastic play equipment and bald patches of mud, or […]

This small west-facing garden in Bolton, Greater Manchester, had frustrated its owner due to its lack of privacy and clay soil. She had tried her best but ended up with a bit of a tangle of odd shapes, dying plants and patchy borders. She called Lee Burkhil, the Garden Ninja, to help sort it out […]

This show garden is split into different zones to represent the diverse eclectic mix of community gardens here in the North West. I’ve designed this garden around the theme of diversity and accessibility. With a number of zones to represent them. Garden Ninja designing at RHS Tatton 2021 It’s a huge honor to be asked […]

Most people struggle with creating their own townhouse or terraced house garden, as space is often too small to imagine, or they try and simply cram in loads of ideas, making it look cluttered. Given the lack of space and adjacent properties, my clients often complain that there’s no privacy and that space limits what […]

A modern garden design style can turn a garden into a room you just can’t wait to be in. Summer evenings are spent sipping fizz out on your garden terrace, with careful mood lighting, dramatic planting and the feeling of privacy. Plants are organised into blocks of colour. Everything is in its place with neat […]

When designing a garden to become an extension of a house or ‘outside room’ there are some key areas you need to factor in. I thought it might be helpful to provide a guide as to how to achieve this, leading by example, of course! So why not turn your garden into an entertaining space? […]

After the success of the stand at Chelsea, I was keen to update the design and planting palette. That way people who had seen the original would have something new to uncover, whilst first-timers could still see the plant explorer theme. So I’ve managed to pack in even more plant explorer stories, different plant specimens and […]

As a garden designer, Chelsea flower show is usually on the dream wish list, that one day you’ll get to showcase something there. Though that day always feels like lightyears in the future, given that most designers work tirelessly for years to build a reputation, strong solid horticultural network and hone their craft. That and the months […]

Having a formal front garden is a statement piece, and ideally, it should match the style of the property it will sit with. Period properties, townhouses and turn-of-the-century properties lend themselves really well to a formal garden design. New build houses can also be excellent candidates for a formal garden layout, especially with the trend […]

This client wanted to turn an unloved car park back garden into a rich sensory garden for their children to play safely in. They also wanted an adult zone to help them relax after a hard days work. They needed car parking space that was hidden, a quick access route to the house on wet […]