Jo Alderson-Phillips is a multi-award-winning garden designer based near Oxford on the edge of the Cotswolds. With over 30 years of experience of listening to & collaborating closely with her clients, she produces well-considered, stylish garden and landscape designs, to suit their needs & lifestyle. The architectural character of the plot is always important too as is proportion... designs complement the character of the architecture & the plot. Work regularly includes country estates up to 30 acres & town courtyards too. All projects are equally important! There is always a focus on style, structure & balance. Less is more is very much her thinking - Jo tends to use use a limited palette of materials, colours & plants to ensure drama, simplicity & unity. Jo is a Chelsea medalist and BBC peoples choice winner.
What services do you provide?
Garden & Landscape design & build, including lighting plans
How would you describe your style?
"I design elegant, understated & stylish gardens with year-round interest & great lighting."
Please describe a recently completed project or tell us about the bespoke service that you offer
"The first couple of photos here are of my own garden so I truly practice what I preach! I designed this courtyard garden to be low maintenance & have year-round interest. It had to look good from all angles as our house & my studio are a series of converted Cotswold barns that wrap right around it. The main pool is viewed directly from the kitchen/dining room & looks particularly wonderful at night. The 4 acres in corten planters make really striking features & perching places too. As the garden is south-facing they were placed to create vital shade & form a room within a room which works perfectly for alfresco dining.
The French-style walled garden shown here is near Henley on Thames & was a completely blank canvas when I first saw it. It now features a dining terrace, a knot garden, formal lawns, quirky topiary & a kitchen garden with raised beds with pleached trees. The centrepiece is a French stone fountain that both sounds fantastic & looks beautiful. It’s formally laid out but there’s blousy seasonal planting too for colour & scent.
Images 6, 7 & 8 are of a current project - a Georgian country mansion set in several acres & being built in phases. The areas immediately beside the house are formal with smartly clipped topiary & frothy planting. Further away there is a secret garden, a kitchen garden, wildflower meadows & a beautiful organically shaped natural pond with a sinuous boardwalk that leads to a woodland walk beyond."
Banner, 6, 7 & 8: Mark Lord; Image 2-5: James Wilson
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