About
Katerina’s inspiration
Creating your dream garden is all about working with you to tailor your vision. No matter how small or challenging, every space has the potential to become a beautiful setting that you’ll love spending time in.
Each garden is unique and bespoke to your needs but I believe that gardens should also inspire, delight and play a role in our homes and our wider community. Gardens should be seen as an extension to our homes and by crafting spaces that fit in with your life, gardens become areas that are enjoyed by all.
Meet Katerina
Embracing my Australian upbringing and Greek heritage, my lifelong passion for gardens, nature, food, and the outdoors has paved the way for my journey into garden design. Growing up, my parents instilled in me the art of cultivating fruit and vegetables, complete with our own flock of chooks. The garden served as a dynamic space for play, family events, and even a source of pocket money through lawn mowing. These formative experiences have fueled my ambition to design and nurture gardens, driving me to:
- Collaborate with clients to bring their dream gardens to life.
- Recognize our responsibility in caring for outdoor spaces.
- Foster connections among friends, families, neighbors, and communities.
- Educate and share the joy of gardens and gardening.
- Contribute to wildlife conservation.
- Cultivate our own food.
Upon relocating to the UK after a successful 20-year career in fundraising, I felt a deep yearning for a more creative path. Retraining at The British Academy of Garden Design marked a pivotal moment, leading to the establishment of my studio. My prior career equipped me with invaluable skills – from attentive listening and logical thinking to effective communication and project management. Now, I blend these skills to transform your early dreams for a beautiful garden into a tangible reality.
My Approach
Revitalise your garden with a fresh perspective! Whether you’ve inherited a neglected garden, find your needs evolving, or simply feel the urge to nurture your outdoor space, the task can seem daunting.
However, I believe that every garden has untapped potential, waiting to be discovered through a process of observation, learning, and interpretation.
If you dream of a garden that brings joy, pride, and relaxation – one that perfectly suits your needs, connects you with nature, and adds value to your property – then a garden designer like myself can turn that vision into reality. The gardens I design are unique, tailored to their location, and offer a sanctuary for escape, relaxation, and enjoyment.
From initial conception to the finishing touches, I take care of every step in designing and project managing your new garden. I collaborate with skilled landscapers to bring the design to life, and I personally handpick all the plants to ensure a bespoke service that creates a dream garden – one that’s personal, practical, and perfect for you.
Specializing in urban residential garden design, I take on projects across London, Surrey, Sussex, and Kent. I thrive on challenges, particularly those presented by the distinctive shapes of London spaces. Whether you’re looking for:
- Residential garden design
- Large or small garden design
- Town and urban garden design
- Commercial landscape garden design
I’m here to transform your outdoor space into a haven of beauty and functionality.
“A pleasure to deal with from start to finish – our designer Katerina listened closely to what we wanted and produced the most beautiful colour drawings (that we will treasure for years to come). The communication was brilliant throughout. We are so pleased with the final result. The garden is now an extension of the house and a space that we can enjoy as a family for many years to come. Highly recommend.” Olivia & Ross
Marie James Phillips
14:15 20 Nov 23
We worked with Katerina on the design of our back garden following an extensive house renovation and are absolutely delighted with the results. Katerina listened to our brief to connect our kitchen with the gazebo that we had already installed at the rear of the garden so the spaces flowed. We wanted a low maintenance garden with a slightly (but not overly “themed”) tropical feel to it and a good sized entertaining space near the kitchen with in-built seating. We’re thrilled that we got everything we asked for and an overall effect that surpassed the high expectations we had for the garden. We also used Katerina to project manage the landscaping and planting for us which I highly recommend if, like us, you have absolutely no idea what you’re doing and/or little time to get involved in the details as these are so important to get it right.
Marie James Phillips
08:59 18 Nov 23
We worked with Katerina on the design of our back garden following an extensive house renovation and are absolutely delighted with the results. Katerina listened to our brief to connect our kitchen with the gazebo that we had already installed at the rear of the garden so the spaces flowed. We wanted a low maintenance garden with a slightly (but not overly “themed”) tropical feel to it and a good sized entertaining space near the kitchen with in-built seating. We’re thrilled that we got everything we asked for and an overall effect that surpassed the high expectations we had for the garden. We also used Katerina to project manage the landscaping and planting for us which I highly recommend if, like us, you have absolutely no idea what you’re doing and/or little time to get involved in the details as these are so important to get it right.
C Stone
14:33 10 Sep 23
Honestly the words do not exist to express how happy we are with the garden design that Katerina did for us at our Central London property. She was professional, listened to what we wanted, incredibly responsive, personable and someone that we really enjoyed working with throughout the project. She delivers the level of customer service that you want on garden transformations: she was incredibly hands-on and engaged with us throughout the project to ensure that we were happy with what was being delivered. She is a class act and we would recommend her to anyone looking for something 'more than ordinary' which you get with so many garden designers. She is exceptional in every way.
Bae KANTALIS
13:40 18 Jun 23
The work done on the garden is absolutely amazing, you can see the amount of error put into it and how long it took. Great job Katerina!
Max Field
19:39 15 May 23
Kat has transformed our garden from a wasteland left behind by uncaring builders into a place we are once again happy to sit and relax in.Like many people I like a visit to the garden centre and tend to buy a plant or three I like, then they don’t do so well and it starts again. Not wanting to do this on a large scale, we asked Kat to help us with a plan. Kat came to see the garden (in the rain) then provided us with a full plan with 3d renders of what we could expect and I’m happy to say the reality has more than lived up to the visuals.We live in outer London and know the soil is fairly grim, Kat suggested it was all removed and replaced with new topsoil. The idea filled me with dread - more labourers wrecking our space (not a job I could do myself without having a physio on standby) but the reality was totally different - Kat organised labourers and was on hand to supervise and even hose the paths down afterward… the manual work was handled with total care and respect which, after months of builders invading our space was thoroughly appreciated.We had about 2 weeks of bare borders then a large van delivered 100 or so plants and a couple of small trees. A couple of hours later Kat (and her partner) was busy planting them so by lunchtime we had our garden!I have no problem recommending Kat and really couldn’t criticise any element at all, even in the slightest.
Angela Hepworth
22:48 14 May 23
Katerina did a fabulous job designing and then transforming my garden. I have a smallish terrace garden, which was in a real mess. It’s now a beautiful space for me to share with my daughters, with an arbor to sit it, a dining table and a pond. It meets all our needs, was very professionally delivered, and has lots of lovely touches, like plants that are special to me. I highly recommend Katerina!
Paul Mac
17:37 03 Mar 23
Katerina designed our garden project and was a pleasure to work with. We weren't sure what we wanted, but she guided us through the options, listened to our ideas and produced beautiful design drawings. She was in contact throughout the project to manage the work and make adjustments as needed. We are delighted with the results.
Moira O'Neill
11:13 15 Nov 22
We are very pleased with Katerina's fantastic, beautifully drawn plan to create some privacy for our large garden that is overlooked by balconies and many windows. We have prioritised some tree planting and these are already making a huge difference.
Robert Obrien
15:35 24 Oct 22
Allium Landscapes worked on a project for Katerina .She supplied the design, and we implemented it for her clients.Katerina has amazing attention to detail and we found her passion for this project second to none. Materials were ordered and delivered when we needed them, and she was always on the end of the phone, when we needed any questions answered. I would highly recommend her services, and cannot wait to get started on the next project with her.
Mira Dabkova
20:34 15 Sep 22
My small city garden needed a complete transformation from a featureless decked space to something that suited my style and lifestyle. It was quite daunting to embark on what for me, was a very big project, but once I'd spoken to Katerina it became a ‘no-brainer’. She listened carefully to what I wanted, contributed her own great ideas, drew up a plan, which showed me how lovely my garden could be, and then delivered on that plan 100%, on time and on budget. To anyone considering having work done on their garden, and particularly if they want something transformative, I don’t think they could choose anyone better to design and deliver that than Katerina. Just looking at the garden makes me happy, it feels like a new piece of home.
Kate Hollingsworth
20:07 31 Aug 22
Katerina is a breath of fresh air! She comes armed with lots of ideas that are gorgeous BUT sensible to your life, space, budget and time commitments!She’s amazing! Her team and contacts book are inspiring. They’re hard working and a joy to be around.Drop her a line and get her to talk through your project. I guarantee you’ll be bowled over by how good she is!
Bob Holmes
21:53 03 Aug 22
We recently had an extension built at the back of our new build house, just so we have more space for the family. The extension looked into the garden and at the time the garden looked bland, overgrown with invasive bamboo and we weren't using it effectively or efficiently. We called on Katerina to assist with the garden design and build. The end result, wow! It was way more than we had imagined, by far and we can’t actually imagine that it’s ours. Now we have an extension that looks into a lovely, contemporary, and serene garden and at times feels like we’re flipping through Pinterest or Houzz.Working with Katerina was effortless, she was friendly and warm, plus she kept us updated during the build. She talked us through her concept and presented both a 2D and 3D hand-drawn visual when we first met. Her designer eye was so important as we couldn’t quite work out how our garden could be transformed, especially as it is awkwardly shaped. The entire process was seamless and easy. We didn’t need to worry as we were in capable hands. Somehow Katerina and her team, has managed to create a beautiful garden with more space to encourage individual time, but also bring together the family. We just love it.Thank you for the hard work, you've easily made us the envy of our neighbours now!
Brendan Eley
10:55 15 Jul 22
The service and end results from Kat and her team were excellent and more than surpassed my expectations. From the initial consult and design stage, Kat was so passionate and informed. She walked me through some exciting design ideas, always ensuring I was fully informed and briefed. We discussed budgets and the resulting brief, within my budget, was really exciting to be a part of. Kat's team were on site for the best part of 4 weeks. The construction team were amazingly professional, hard working and polite, leaving the site every evening tidy and clean. Finally, as the planting stage kicked off, the garden really started taking shape. I am so pleased to have gone through Kat. She made sure she returned as necessary following the main bulk of the. work to ensure every element was in place. The end result is a beautiful new garden that is a joy to spend time in. I wouldn't hesitate in recommending Kat; my once overgrown and weed-strewn space is now a true oasis of natural beauty and calm.
Olivia Hatt
12:21 02 Jan 22
We worked with Katerina through Floral & Hardy during the second half of 2021. Katerina was fantastic and a pleasure to work with throughout the project. She listened carefully to what we wanted and produced beautiful drawings that we then saw come to life. Her communication throughout was brilliant and the whole process was collaborative and smooth. We are absolutely thrilled with the final result. Highly recommend!
Find about out more about my garden design work
