“Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint and the soil and sky as canvas”
Elizabeth Murray
About Michelle
Michelle Brown has been designing gardens since 2002, after graduating from Kingston Maurward College.
Her first design was selected to be built at Chelsea Flower show 2002 ‘A Forgotten Future’ and awarded a Silver Gilt medal.
Michelle feels it is important to have a strong architectural framework to each project, whether the setting is in a rural natural environment, or a more contained urban context. Her design-led approach creates contemporary and traditional gardens with strong planting themes and suitable material selection.
Her aim is to create gardens that make you excited and look forward to being in them.
Michelle also shares her passion of garden design with her students at Kingston Maurward College, where she is a lecturer part-time.
Testimonials
“Having a wide breadth of domain knowledge, coupled with artistic flair and vision, is the reason why Michelle excels in the field of garden design. These skills enable her to cover the complete spectrum of design, maintenance and support to clients in their ongoing garden development. Michelle is comfortable working on her own or part of a team, with no garden too small. She is respected by her peers, students and tradesmen. A professional throughout and passionate about her work.”
Kingston Maurward ‘The Space Within’ Sanctuary Garden
Silver-Gilt Medal Winner
Designed by Michelle Brown
Inspiration for the garden comes from a visit to Kingston Maurward’s sister garden La Mortola (The Hanbury Botanical Gardens) in Italy, taking ideas from the gardens on the French Riviera to create a space fusing styles from Dorset and Europe.
A contemporary arch provides the entrance to a secret jungle of foliage planting inspired by the sub-tropical gardens of the Mediterranean and punctuated by specimen architectural plants and trees.
Elevated pathways lead to a daybed platform where the visitor can rest, totally immersed in plants. Here you can see the complete Plant List. The asymmetric social platform and seating is inspired by childhood den making and invites the visitor with its playful shape.
The sanctuary boundaries are created as wildlife habitats, using fallen trees and waste timber to contain the space within.
Chelsea Flower Show 2019
The Kingston Maurward Garden
RHS Silver Gilt Medal for Artisan Garden
Michelle shares her passion for garden design with her students at Kingston Maurward College, Dorchester, where she is a lecturer part-time.
The College are very excited to have been accepted to build a garden for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2019. Partnering with Miles Stone, a leading supplier of landscaping materials on the South Coast, they will be appearing in the Artisan category. Arguably the world’s most famous garden show, Chelsea is an annual event held for 5 days every May showcasing the best of the flower and landscaping industry. It truly is an international stage for all exhibitors.
Celebrating 70 years of land-based education, KMC are focused on inspiring future generations of a career in the garden design and landscaping sectors. The College offer various courses, including artisan and contemporary techniques that will be represented by the garden itself.
Hours of hard work have gone into this exciting project. The high standard of Michelle’s concept and visuals meant they were accepted by Chelsea, and will appear alongside other entries in the Artisan category including huge brands such as Facebook and Ikea.
Huf Haus
Weymouth
This project was designed in 2011 after the demolition of a 1960s bungalow. The design was to fit in around a new contemporary build, and also to fit within its location in the heart of Weymouth, Dorset. A willow tree dominates the garden, so the planting beneath this is shade loving plants such as tree ferns, acers, Japanese anemones and hostas, all of which create a woodland feel. The sunnier parts of the garden make good use of Mediterranean plants including feature olive trees, agapanthus, lavender, cannas and cabinas. Hydrangeas and alders have also been used. Due to the site being on a side of a hill, drainage issues have been an important factor to address.
Goulds Garden
Show Garden for Goulds Garden Centre
This 2016 design for Goulds Garden Centre, Weymouth, showcases their products for hard landscaping and plants. Therefore, plants can change throughout the year to highlight what’s new in stock. The design starts with a morning garden, with a seating area surrounded by bright colours and scented plants, plus a fire pit. Following on from this is an afternoon garden with a Japanese inspired feel, creating a relaxing environment. Moving across, there is an area for food and entertaining that include tables, chairs and a BBQ. Finally, turning back to the morning garden, which now becomes an evening garden, you can sit around the fire pit to warm your toes whilst toasting marshmallows!
Beaminster Manor House
This is a planting plan and plant schedule supplied for this commission. Michelle laid out the planting design ready for the gardening team to plant.
Notting Hill
Baynard’s Green
Baynard’s Green garden has been designed for the community to use as a tranquil area, whether it be for reading, reflection or socialising. The ample wooden seating is engulfed by greenery including evergreens and stilted hedging, which provide a peaceful haven amongst what once was a very overlooked space. Michelle has cleverly worked around the constraints of the garden, like the garage roof and air vents. Landscaping by Hansford & Son.
Huf Haus
Greenwich
A beautiful family garden in Blackheath, Greenwich, designed for cooking, entertaining and growing veggies. The main focal point from the kitchen window is the magnificent green feature wall.
