Andy's garden at Chelsea
Andy Sturgeon is well known for his striking planting combinations, groundbreaking use of materials in his gardens and as a writer and television presenter. Find out who his early influences were and the steps he took to become an award winning garden designer.
I designed my first garden in 1983. To be honest I didn't know much about gardens at the time so I took a lot of risks but I'm still pleased with how it turned out. It taught me to be brave with design.
Andy's garden at Chelsea I've got four Chelsea Gold medals now but I'm most proud of the garden I designed in 2005 for Merrill Lynch which had square voids set in a dark pool. You tend to get pigeon holed as a designer and for years I designed mostly small urban gardens and roof gardens. I still enjoy those types of projects but I've been allowed to spread my wings and also now make gardens on a far larger scale.
The last few years have taken me around the world from Hong Kong to Rwanda, Moscow, USA and all over Europe but I get just as excited by the prospect of a nice local project in the South East of England. I have always designed sculpture, garden buildings and bespoke water features but I've recently been asked to design a furniture range and some garden lights which is a new avenue for me.
My brother Neil was a landscape gardener and he encouraged me into the profession. At first I got virtually all my inspiration from John Brookes 'Small Garden' and Anthony Paul's book 'The Water Garden'. There was little else available.
Andy's garden at Chelsea Definitely. My background is landscape gardening and I also ran a garden maintenance company for six years. The garden I have now is long and thin like a ribbon and is split into a number of different compartments including a tree fern glade with a snaking boardwalk and right at the end there are vegetables and the childrens' play frame. Everything has to be quite robust as I've got three young boys.
Various euphorbias , Astelia chatamica , Pittosporum tobira and Anemanthele lessoniana .
Natural materials, particularly stone and wood. I'm a huge fan of Portland Stone and York stone.
Garden design is all about problem solving and each garden is unique and comes with its own set of problems. Perhaps the biggest challenge is ensuring that the garden is looked after properly once I've left or the original vision can disappear in just a few short years. I always design the garden with this in mind using plants and materials with longevity. We also offer a service where we visit the garden each year to keep it on track.
I'm responsible for some real howlers in my first few years of designing, but they say learn from your mistakes and I've certainly learnt a lot. When I started there were few materials available and one of the cheapest and most popular was reclaimed railway sleepers which unfortunately oozed tar everywhere. We used them to make seats and all sorts of things. I hate to think how many people sat on them. They’ve been banned now.
I'm a big fan of the RHS garden at Wisley. I know it well as I visited frequently as a child and worked there when I was older. It doesn't have much to offer in the way of design but the planting is superb.
I've yet to work in the Caribbean and I'd like to work there for all the obvious reasons but also because I studied tropical plants for years. Sean Connery springs to mind but I read an article that said he was stingy, so maybe one of his neighbours? The important things for me are that clients must have vision, a passion for design and a desire for quality. A sea view can be a bonus.
Our practice is dedicated to creating contemporary external spaces for private, commercial and international clients. Modern design, natural materials and innovative planting are blended to create bold, architectural and timeless landscapes.
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