Annie and Creative Landscapes

Annie Guilfoyle is an award-winning designer and an RHS Chelsea Flower Show Silver Medal winner. After studying horticulture at Capel Manor College in Enfield, Middlesex, she gained a BA Honours Degree in Garden Design from Middlesex University. Annie combines running a successful garden design consultancy with lecturing and writing on the subject.

Annie’s design work has featured on several televisions programmes, such as BBC Small Town Gardens.

For 18 years Annie was the director of Garden Design at KLC School of Design at Hampton Court Palace, Surrey, where she was instrumental in establishing the highly acclaimed garden design courses. Many of Annie’s students have gone onto to become successful, award-winning designers.

As Garden Course Consultant at West Dean College near Chichester, West Sussex, Annie is responsible for the development of the educational programme and has developed an educational allotment where students can learn about growing food. Annie teaches a monthly course called The Art and Craft of Garden Design at Great Dixter House & Gardens in Northiam, Rye, East Sussex.

Annie lectures internationally and each summer runs a garden design course at Chanticleer Garden in Pennsylvania, every autumn she teams up with Viviao Valfredda in Northern Italy to run design workshops and courses in Italian. Her international lecturing work includes Moscow, Kiev, Copenhagen and Milan. She is a regular judge for The Society of Garden Designers annual awards, Moscow Garden Show, Copenhagen Garden Show and Orticolario on Lake Como, Italy.

Together with Noel Kingsbury, Annie has established Garden Masterclass, this is a programme of learning days and events in association with Gardens Illustrated. The aim is to bring together gardeners and designers with the very best and most innovative people in the gardening world through one-day workshops all over the United Kingdom. Each workshop is organised around a specific topic, and designed to help participants learn, create and apply new knowledge and skills.

Annie Guilfoyle’s writing includes two extensive open learning courses published by KLC and regular articles for leading UK magazines such as Gardens Illustrated and the Society of Garden Design Journal. Her work has been featured in a number of books including The Book of Garden Plans Mitchell Beazley, 2004; The Book of Plans for Small Gardens, Mitchell Beazley 2007, and The RHS Encyclopaedia of Garden Design, Dorling Kindersley 2009.

Her television work includes being a featured designer on the BBC-tv series Small Town Gardens, Gardeners’ World and The Garden Makers on Meridian TV. These programmes demonstrate Annie's expertise in transforming tiny spaces into contemporary urban sanctuaries with modern art and architecture being key influences. A fine example is the sculpture garden for the Zimmer Stewart Gallery in Arundel, West Sussex.