Jo Thompson
Garden Design Diploma
Course Leader
Jo Thompson is one of the UK’s leading garden designers, known for creating beautifully crafted, sustainable landscapes and gardens that stand the test of time. She has taught at the college for over 15 years, becoming course leader in 2026.
Her work is defined by biodiversity, exquisite planting design, and a masterful understanding of space, colour and form. Renowned for her romantic style and expertise with roses, Jo favours what she calls “a gentle intervention rather than the heavy stamp of design.” Her gardens are deeply connected to their setting and have earned her an international reputation as one of the most talented and thoughtful landscape and garden designers working today.
Described as a modern successor to Britain’s horticultural heroine Gertrude Jekyll, Jo approaches garden design as an art form – led by emotion, atmosphere and an instinctive sense of harmony. Her English-style gardens feel timeless and effortless, defined by painterly planting, layered textures and her signature use of roses, which bring both romance and structure to her work.
A multiple Gold Medal winner at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, her work spans private and public projects across the UK and internationally, from English country gardens to urban rooftops in New York and coastal landscapes in Europe and South America.
Jo is the author of The Gardener’s Palette and The New Romantic Garden, and writes The Gardening Mind, her acclaimed weekly Substack and the world’s most-read gardening newsletter.
Consistently listed among the top garden designers by House & Garden and Country Life, Jo was named by The Times as one of the six best garden designers working today. She is an RHS Shows Judge and serves on the RHS Show Gardens Selection Panel and RHS Gardens Committee.
Jo joins the London College of Garden Design as Head of Garden Design Studies from September 2026, bringing her design thinking and instinct for colour and planting directly into the college for the next generation of students.
Image credit – Rachel Warne