Elks-Smith Garden Design is a professional garden design service headed by Helen Elks-Smith Bsc(Hons) Dip GD, Cert. Hort. MSGD.  I have been designing gardens since 2001 and have long held a passion for all things gardening.
I am a registered member of the Society of Garden Designers (SGD), the only professional body covering garden design.  The SGD represents the top 2% of garden designers in the UK.

As a child, gardening was highly valued and I enjoyed the sweet taste of home grown fruit and vegetables.  Family day trips to nearby Sissinghurst gave me a delight in garden design, a love of plants and an interest in caring for our environment.  The smell of box stills evokes memories of wonderful warm, sunny days exploring the many spaces of Sissinghurst.

Having completed various horticultural courses I continued my training at an advanced level, studying garden design and horticulture at Writtle college,  part of the University of Essex.
All of the photographs on this website feature gardens I have created.  Many of these and other gardens in my extensive portfolio are available to view.

Good garden design is a very cost effective way to provide the right garden for you.  Construction costs money, so getting it right first time is important.  Use of a skilled designer coupled with skilled artisans and craftsmen ensures your needs are met, whilst taking care to improve and care for your space.  Great gardens are created by talented designers working with a team of great craftsmen and artisans working together.

I love to watch wildlife.  Gardens provide increasingly important habitats for our native wildlife.  Gardens can help our beleagured bumble bees, butterflies and birds.  Gardens that provide year round interest for us, with a succession of flowering plants also provide invaluable food sources and habitats for our wildlife.  Now that's great planting.

Our gardens are important to us and they need to suit our style, our needs and our budgets.
Our gardens must fulfil our varied needs.  We may need space for quiet reflection, entertaining, play or food. In an increasingly small world our gardens need to make the most of our space and great design will help you do that and more.