Garden and Landscape Designer Cornwall
Beautiful and Immersive Planting Design - Underpinned by Exemplary Horticultural Expertise - With a Focus on Attention to Detail.
Garden Design Services
Juniper Gardens offers a specialist garden design service focused on planting design that is deeply rooted in local knowledge. We understand which plants truly thrive in Cornwall’s maritime climate and work closely with trusted local nurseries that grow plants well suited to coastal, woodland and exposed sites. Our planting designs range from contemporary, ecological perennial schemes to sensitive woodland and coastal planting, always taking into account soil, aspect and long-term sustainability. As the climate continues to change, we prioritise resilient plant choices capable of coping with hotter, drier summers — a principle that is especially important when selecting trees and structural planting intended to last for generations.
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Planting Design Services
If you are looking to enhance an existing garden or completely re-plant your outdoor space, Juniper Gardens offers a bespoke planting design service as part of a considered garden design approach. This may include a detailed planting plan, plant sourcing through trusted nurseries, and professional planting if required. Each scheme is tailored to your garden’s conditions and your long-term vision, creating planting that feels natural, cohesive and carefully resolved.
The Cornwall Plantsman
Juniper Gardens is led by Jodi Dickinson, who has over eighteen years’ experience in horticulture, garden design and landscape management across Cornwall. His career includes the role of Head Gardener at the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden for Tate, St Ives, and he holds the Master of Horticulture with distinction from the Royal Horticultural Society. This depth of experience ensures planting designs that are both aesthetically refined and horticulturally sound.
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Local Knowledge
Jodi has extensive local knowledge of plants that thrive across Cornwall’s diverse microclimates, from sheltered estuary gardens in Feock to town gardens in Truro and exposed coastal roof terraces in St Ives. This first-hand experience is combined with a strong belief that gardens should enhance wellbeing, reflect the owner’s individual style, and respond sensitively to their surroundings. Whether contemporary, town or more classic in feel, each planting design is thoughtfully composed and elegantly bespoke..
Design Philosophy
Key influences within our planting designs include contemporary perennial planting, Japanese and coastal gardens, and dry, climate-adapted landscapes. A minimalist attention to detail, combined with sustainable plant choices, creates planting schemes that feel calm, timeless and resilient — gardens designed not only for today, but for Cornwall’s changing climate in the decades ahead.
Contemporary thinking in garden design has been strongly influenced by designers such as Piet Oudolf and Nigel Dunnett, who advocate a more ecological and sustainable approach to planting. This style favours resilient perennials and grasses selected for their suitability to local climatic conditions, their value to wildlife, and their ability to coexist as balanced plant communities requiring minimal ongoing maintenance.
Plants such as Echinacea purpurea and Echinops bannaticus, alongside ornamental grasses, are often left standing through winter to provide structure, seasonal beauty and a valuable food source for birds. At Juniper Gardens, we embrace this naturalistic approach to perennial planting, creating gardens that are responsive to climate change, work in harmony with their environment, and actively support local wildlife.
Garden Design Influences
Our Approach
We believe sustainability should be a fundamental core value running through all garden design and development. Gardens should enhance biodiversity, contribute to local ecologies, and provide joy and wonderment to the owners for many years to come. In this way harmony and balance can be enjoyed through our gardens, bolstering our well-being, as well as that of future generations. With extensive and creative horticultural knowledge, we aim to create, develop and maintain gardens that our customers love and cherish.
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Projects
The Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden
Naturalistic wildlife friendly garden
Tate St Ives coastal roof garden
Town courtyard garden
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is planting design and how is it different from garden design?
Planting design focuses specifically on which plants go where — their combinations, positioning, and seasonal interest — rather than hard landscaping or structural elements. While we use the term garden design in page titles to reflect what people search for, Juniper Gardens specialises in bespoke planting plans that sit within a broader garden design approach tailored to your space, style and climate conditions.
What does a planting design include?
Our planting designs typically include a detailed plant layout, species selection, seasonal structure advice, and, if needed, plant sourcing and professional planting. Each plan is bespoke to your garden, taking into account soil, aspect, microclimate and long-term resilience.
Will you source and plant the plants for me?
Yes — we can source the plants through trusted local growers and deliver and plant them for you if you wish. We often find plants at better prices than typical retail because of our industry connections.
How do you choose plants for a Cornish garden?
We draw on deep local knowledge of Cornwall’s varied microclimates — from estuary gardens in Feock to town gardens in Truro and exposed coastal sites in St Ives — to recommend plants that will thrive in your specific setting. We also prioritise resilient, climate-adapted planting that supports wildlife and requires minimal maintenance over time.
Can I see examples of your planting design work?
Yes — our project gallery includes naturalistic perennial borders, coastal perennial plantings and minimalist garden schemes that show how planting design can transform outdoor spaces across Cornwall.
How long does a planting design project take?
Timelines vary depending on the size of your garden and the level of detail required. After an initial consultation, we’ll provide a schedule so you know what to expect at each stage of the planting design process.
What is the first step to getting a planting design from Juniper Gardens?
Start with a consultation where we discuss your garden, preferences, site conditions and goals. From there we can agree the scope of your bespoke planting plan and next steps.