Garden designer

Focus on: Garden designer

Flo Headlam
Own business
Full time, salary up to £25k

I call myself a garden maker, or if I’m being mischevious a ‘garden whisperer’. Sometimes my work is simply about keeping a garden in check with regular maintenance visits. Other gardens I visit require development, reshaping and replanting – a light touch that may mean filling gaps in a border or filling and arranging pots to create a different view or have greater impact.

I love the fact that I meet a wide range of people and have to find a way to connect with them all. No two days are ever the same. I work with a small landscaping team building city gardens. These design-and-build projects bring all my skill sets into play.

Focus on: Garden designer

Nicola Oakey
Own business
Part time, salary range from £10k

I run my own garden design business part time, mainly creating residential gardens. I love my job, as no two days are ever the same. I can be visiting clients and measuring gardens, sitting at my drawing board designing, or travelling to nurseries to select plants and trees. I have a Diploma in Garden Design, which gave me the basic knowledge I needed.

After completing my diploma I did a horticultural apprenticeship. This was a great opportunity to meet people in the horticultural industry and get an RHS qualification at the same time. It was a contact I made through the apprenticeship that then led me to getting my first job in a design studio.