Every landscape begins with a feeling — a sense of place waiting to be revealed.
Roots in the Wild
A childhood shaped by vast horizons and untamed beauty.
Charlie grew up in Kenya, where the vast, wild landscapes left a lasting impression. At age 14, he moved to England to attend Marlborough College, later training as a sculptor at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy.
After returning to the UK to take on private commissions, Charlie worked closely with a Country Estates Manager, where his love for gardens and landscapes began to take root.
From Sculpture to Garden Design
Translating form into living space.
What began as a sculptor’s interest in form evolved into a passion for shaping outdoor space. He pursued this calling by earning a Garden Design Diploma at Merrist Wood, Guildford College, where he studied under RHS Chelsea judge Andrew Wilson.
He then joined Justin Spink Garden Design in the Cotswolds — a region that would deeply influence his love of grottoes and historic gardens.
From Craft to Studio
Where art, landscape, and materiality converge.
In the Cotswolds, Charlie’s exposure to historic garden features sparked a fascination that led him to train under shellwork expert Belinda Eade. This apprenticeship refined his eye for intricacy, materiality, and narrative in design.
In 2010, with classical training and hands-on experience behind him, Charlie founded his own studio — a practice that seamlessly brings together garden design, sculpture, and artisan craft.
“Along with a client’s brief, what naturally exists in a garden or landscape is always an inspirational jumping off point for me when thinking about the design.”
Sketchbooks and Philosophy
Sketchbooks and Philosophy
“I’ve not left the house without my sketchbooks since I started studying at the Florence Academy of Art in 2001, aged 19.”
The drawings, magazine snippets, shrivelled plant cuttings, and scribbled notes are a constant source of reference and inspiration — not just for garden design, shell ideas, and my moodboard wall, but even the occasional reminder of a great dish at a restaurant to return to.
These sketchbooks embody the same patience and observation that guide his gardens. For Charlie, design is an act of listening — to places, textures, and time itself.
“Gardens aren’t built — they’re revealed. The designer’s task is to listen to what the place wants to become.”