Here are some of the consultants who have worked closely with us on previous projects:

• Architects — Gilmore Hankey Kirke Ltd.
• Architectural Technician — Ralph E. Gray
• Chartered Land Surveyors — Paul Fassam Geomatics
• Chartered Surveyor — Chris Brown
• Geologist — Dr Peter Grainger, BSc, DIC, MSc, PhD, MIGeol, FGS
• Structural Engineer — Robert Walster, MSc, CEng, MIStructEng
• Tree Surgeon — S. J. Morris, N.D.Arb (RFS), F.Arbor.A
• Water Garden Consultants - Anthony Archer Wills U.S.A.
  Consultant
• Originally Trained by Anthony Archer Wills Ltd
  Consultation areas:
  Martin Kelley Sussex & Home Counties
• Conservation Builders Darrock & Brown

A bit of background regarding myself, Hugh O'Connell, the Garden Designer, will help explain my motivations and driving force.

Having obtained the National Certificate in Horticulture, my early professional career 35 years ago (1966) was as a grower, and as a sculptor. Some of my sculptures have been sent to America through the Grosvenor Gallery, off Regent Street, London. I then moved into landscaping and was approved for membership of the British Association of Landscape Industries. But my true calling was to garden designing, and I subsequently trained at The College of Garden Design, run by Lucy Huntington and Robin Williams. Other tutors including Anthony Archer-Wills the international water garden and lake specialist. In March 1991 I was awarded the MSGD Diploma from the Society of Garden Designers having satisfied the Society examiners. I left the Society 3 years later to become an independent designer. In December 2003 I rejoined the Society as a Registered Member having satisfied the adjudication panel and entitled to use the letters MSGD. Currently I am not a member of the Society of Garden Designers I prefer to be an independent designer.

I have undertaken many varied commissions. These include:

• A 10 acre garden in the Alsace, France
• A similar project in Belgium
• The Hertfordshire classical garden included in this brochure designed with 16th Century principles
• A private garden in Wells near the Cathedral
• Working alongside English Nature on a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
• An arboreal survey for Teignbridge Council at Lindridge Park - a grade 2 listed garden of 22 acres.
• A number of garden projects in London (Eaton Terrace and Kew Green), the Isle of Man and the South West of England
• Numerous other private commissions in the UK

In the course of these projects I have defined professional teams consisting of structural engineers, geologists, architects, building surveyors, builders, landscapers and tree surgeons as necessary to achieve the best for the gardens.

My aim has always been to create a unique and individual garden for every client. Each full project is a living sculpture, reshaping the best of the existing garden into a new whole. I am reviving the use of proportion as a norm for gardens that will benefit from this approach - see correspondence between Kirk Johnson at Suite 101 and myself, and take a look at the interesting article about Harmony and Proportion on the "About Scotland" site.