Joanne Bernstein Garden Design

Joanne undertook a complete redesign of our garden, transforming it from a country style to a modern contemporary look. Her design was elegant and appropriate to the house. Joanne's background as an art curator was reflected in the way she carefully planned the various aspects and garden 'rooms' to give an overall balance. Her recommendation of materials for the hard landscaping aspects were perfectly in harmony with the overall concept. Whilst Joanne does have strong ideas she consulted us on every aspect and adapted her plan accordingly. The team of sub-contractors she brought in were all excellent and as professional and committed as she is. Her planting plan was carefully considered and in keeping with the look and feel of the garden. In summary, as a garden designer, Joanne combines aesthetic flair with practicality and careful attention to detail. She will give you a great garden and I recommend her without reservation.

Joanne designed our London townhouse garden last year. From the start she combined a wonderful aesthetic sensibility with a great attention to detail - both in landscaping and planting. Joanne was really efficient and communicative and also very open to discussing ideas about planting choices. We are delighted with our garden!

In 2014 my husband and I bought a small house in Stanmore which included a small south-facing garden requiring urgent attention. We called in Joanne Bernstein, Garden Designer and quickly agreed that a gravel garden would be a perfect solution, especially as such a garden t requires minimal maintenance, which fitted in well with our numerous breaks away from home. We were very happy with the Landscaper Joanne brought in to do the work. Soon the garden began to take shape and what earlier had been q boring garden began to transform into an interesting space using complementary shapes and foliage as well as some garden sculpture which we had brought from our previous home. Now we have year-round pleasure from our delightful garden and enjoy inviting Joanne to visit to see how our garden has grown.

Working with Jo on our garden was a pleasure from start to finish. Her professionalism was exemplary and this was matched with her kind, warm and generous spirit. Her immense knowledge, skill and vision led the project to fruition, but she was always responsive to our opinion and ideas - this made for a strong working relationship. Jo has great professional and personal integrity, she is meticulous in every aspect of her practice and will go the extra mile to ensure that everything is executed properly and to the highest standard. Jo was a great find for us, she designed a beautiful garden and we can't recommend her highly enough.

We feel extremely fortunate to have found Joanne. We were impressed by Joanne’s enthusiasm throughout the process. She brought our ideas to life and brought new ideas, particularly with regards to the planting scheme, into our garden. She was patient with us, and helped develop our thoughts into the beautiful space we now have. The garden is now an integral part of our lives and our home.

I have known Joanne for many years mostly as a distinguished curator of modern art. When she became a garden designer I knew that she would be the right person to design our garden, and took the trouble to visit the garden she had designed for herself. Not surprisingly it was beautiful. We were in the middle of a major refurbishment of a large house in Belsize Park with a substantial walled garden. The garden consisted mostly of shrubs with some lovely old roses and lawn but the distinguishing features of the garden, its width and its walls, were hidden. Jo came in and immediately set about revealing the unique qualities of the garden and attending carefully to the relationship of garden to house, redesigning the the way in which the stairs down from the raised ground floor met the garden, designing a patio that seemlessly connected with the study on the lower ground floor, and suggesting a lovely porcelain tile that would move from outside to inside without interruption. She then set about structuring the garden into discreet spaces, retaining enough lawn for the grandchildren to run around in, and dividing the spaces by mixed hedging, each area having a different planting theme, but with an overall unity. The garden has three different moments in the growing season with a blend of whites, blues, mauves and pinks. Joanne is very attentive to detail and likes to plant up herself, while sub-contracting the hard landscaping to very reliable contractors. She was very good to work with and has a very good knowledge of plants and an excellent network of experts in various fields. She delivered on time and to the quotation (our original notional budget was smaller). It would have been helpful to have had the planting plan earlier than it was delivered. Like any garden, ours is evolving and there are some plants and some small areas that may require revision but overall we are very hapy with the result and it has been much admired by firends and neighbours.

Literally the BEST decision we made whilst doing a full renovation of our our home. Without doubt the MOST impressive consultant/contractor we engaged with (we used a lot). Our garden is better then we could ever have imagined. Inspired design with incredibly thoughtful attention to the details. Always professional and considerate to our thoughts. If your looking for a garden designer - dont look any further (also has v good network of contacts for labor etc etc). 10/10

It’s a pity there isn’t a sixth star, because that is exactly where Jo belongs on the rating scale. She has turned a boring suburban, grass in the middle, borders down the sides plot into a light, bright, colourful space that will give us endless pleasure for years to come. Stylish, expert, funny, wise.... we couldn’t recommend Jo highly enough. On the basis that a picture is worth a thousand words, the before and after photos attached to this review say it all!

Joanne is a joy to work with. She delivered on every level, from start to finish. She pushed us beyond our comfort zone a few times on design, material and plants but was proved right each and every time! She had tremendous energy to drive the project to completion - she has exceptional taste, is highly skilled and good company to boot. We recommend her whole heartedly.

Joanne helped us transform a modest and conservative London garden into something unusual, beautiful and surprisingly wild. Aside from the design challenges, she had to deal with our nerves (mainly mine regarding the loss of a lawn) and indecision. Despite this she managed to guide us reassuringly and give us the garden we wanted and one we love.