Designing with Sand and Sea in Mind...

Before a spade touched the ground, we spent time planning. A coastal garden has its own rules - salt, wind, and shifting sand mean not every plant can thrive, and the line between nurture and nature is a delicate one.

Working with Iron Orchid, we shaped a vision that would work with the landscape rather than against it. Every choice had to consider the restless nature of sand, always moving, reshaping, swallowing what we thought was fixed. Beneath the surface, adders warm themselves in the dunes, slow worms hide in the marram grass, and the garden must find a way to live among them rather than push them out.

Here, it’s the tough, salt-kissed plants that flourish, sea holly, thrift and long wavering grasses that bow but don’t break in the Cornish wind. Each is chosen for our garden not just for beauty, but for its ability to hold the line against the elements.

What began as sketches and ideas is now slowly becoming real. And we always have our site manager, Eric the Dachshund, keeping a watchful eye on progress (and the local wildlife).