A path that wasn't straight, and why it matters.
I grew up on a farm in southern NSW, free to roam extensive ornamental and edible gardens. Before garden design I was a physiotherapist, ran a commercial demolition company in Melbourne, and designed jewellery. Together they gave me an understanding of how bodies move through and respond to space, how things actually get built on site, and an eye for material and detail.
I graduated from the London College of Garden Design with Distinction and as Student of the Year, and I now return each year as a guest lecturer to the graduating class. Based in Nambucca Heads, I've spent years learning to read this landscape: what grows here, how the light moves through the seasons, and which local stone ages well.
You work with me directly, from the first conversation to the final drawing, so the person who listens to your ideas is the one who designs your garden.
Grounded design. Real gardens.
Grounded in this place
What thrives on the Mid North Coast, how the afternoon breezes move, where the water goes, which local materials age beautifully. That knowledge is earned, and it shapes every design.
Designed for how you want to live and feel
Before I draw a single line, I ask how you want to live in your garden: who you'll share it with, where you'll eat, swim, play and unwind. And how you want to feel when you step outside in the morning. The answers shape the layout, the materials, the planting and the light.
Drawn to be built
Levels and set-out, materials and planting schedules, lighting plans and detailed notes. Not a mood board or a render: a complete design your builder can price and build with confidence.
Local by design
Local plants, materials, trades and knowledge. When challenges arise during construction, and they always do, I'm close by to help solve them.
Trained, insured and accountable.
- Diploma of Garden Design (with Distinction), London College of Garden Design
- Student of the Year, London College of Garden Design
- Guest lecturer, London College of Garden Design
- Member, Landscape Design Institute
- Fully insured
Designed and built by hand.
In 2024 I designed and built Nature's Pantry for the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, with support from Open Gardens Victoria. Building a display garden under real time pressure taught me how every design decision becomes something physical on site.
See Nature's Pantry Where I workThe Mid North Coast of NSW: Kempsey to Woolgoolga, and west to Bellingen. Port Macquarie to Yamba, and larger projects further afield, by arrangement.
Seven years of living in a garden.
From 2016 until it was sold in 2023, I lived in and gardened this Melbourne property. I designed the front garden, with its raised vegetable beds, arbour and planted path to the door. The back garden was designed by Ben Harris Gardens, and I looked after it for seven years. Living with it every day taught me how much a well-designed garden shapes the way you live in your home.
“Sarah was present through the whole garden project from conception to planting. Her attention to detail meant we ended up with the garden of our dreams.”
Jessica Ellis · Valla Beach