Charlie Nelson
I’m Charlie and I graduated from the London College of Garden Design in July 2022 with a commended diploma in garden design and I’m now working in London, Sussex and further afield.
I’ve always seen gardens as places for only positive experiences; peace, play, entertainment and immersion in nature.
With a long-held passion for gardens and nature, in 2021 I enrolled at the London College of Garden Design to develop my skillset in creating lasting and impactful garden designs that are both inspired by and sensitive to their surrounds. Gardens to draw people outside and uplift them once they’re there.
I use sustainable, diverse and inviting planting and careful hard landscaping to deliver liveable and creative spaces that enhance properties and the lives of the people within.
Biography:
The desire to truly immerse myself in my passion for gardens and garden design led me to Kew in 2021 to enrol on the diploma in garden design course.
Prior to this, I’ve spent 15 years in marketing and communications within award winning creative agencies, working with some of the world’s best known and best loved brands.
I graduated from LCGD in July 2022 and am now working in London, Sussex and further afield as well as looking to collaborate with designers to deliver larger projects throughout the UK.
An architect and interior designer couple, wanted a new space that would compliment and enhance their planned new extension. A modern, luxurious and clearly defined space using a carefully chosen materials palette, strong and structural planting and wide generous steps to maximise the views down to Chesham woods. The garden has multiple level changes that are softly and sensitively managed both by the wide steps but also by multi-level pools bringing new life, sound and dramatic reflections. Strategically positioned, numerous new multi-stem trees provide screening from near neighbours but also give dynamic shadows and light play throughout the garden. The front garden has also been extensively reconfigured for more extensive but sensitive parking and further planting to create more of a sense of arrival to the property. The space as a whole has multiple different spaces for entertaining larger groups, more intimate evening drinks, bocce and simply enjoying the view. A lasting, sustainable and adaptable answer to a hugely appealing brief created by two design professionals.
The clients had recently acquired a significant chunk of woodland adjacent to their grade II listed property in Ascot and wanted a garden that integrated the extensive ancient woodland more effectively, to blur the boundaries and create a more harmonious experience. The garden was inspired by the serpentine firebreak paths around nearby Chobham Common which gave a neat framework to help navigate this larger space, drawing you through different planting areas and the key hard landscaping elements. The paths ultimately entice you to the end of the garden, which is naturally wetter due to a spring on the estate. The design leans into this with a new natural swimming pool, sauna and workspace for an indulgent and intimate retreat and a fully immersive experience in nature.
A six acre former equestrian estate on the Dengie peninsula in Essex is given new life with a design inspired by the shapes of the nearby salt marshes. An expansive and adaptable space that delivers against the brief to create a garden that would be appropriate for multiple generations with space to entertain, play, escape, grow produce and maximise the dramatic big skies of the county.
