Rosie Claire Treharne
Landscape Designer
Based on Exmoor, my work takes me to clients across West Somerset and North Devon as a Landscape Designer and Horticulturist.
My love of plants and nature form the foundation for my work; developing thoughtfully interwoven planting plans, designed masterplans or through my consultancy service.
By employing a multi-disciplinary approach, I draw upon aspects of both horticulture and garden design to curate green spaces brimming-with-life to nourish both people and nature.
At the heart of my work is a deep respect for nature and the intention to create gardens which facilitate our connection with nature and the experience of natural beauty.
I believe in the garden’s potential not only to impart interest across the seasons but also as a much needed source of hope and inspiration and a space to slow down and decompress.
Often the garden might become neglected, seen as daunting or a laboursome chore that can be exhausting, especially in the rain! I help clients to move beyond this perspective to embrace their garden as a stimulating green sanctuary, with the potential to become a lifelong curiosity as well as a source of inspiration and beauty.
I relish the opportunity to share my knowledge and enthusiasm for horticulture and plants. Whether demonstrating taking cuttings, growing edibles, pruning apple trees or discussing the dark art of compost making I encourage clients to delve in and experience the magic.
Award-winning gardens
Over the course of my horticultural career since 2012, I’ve worked in some award-winning gardens, including Hestercombe Gardens, Somerset and at RHS Rosemoor, North Devon.
At Hestercombe, based in the Formal Edwardian Arts and Crafts garden, an historic collaboration between architect Edwin Lutyens and designer Gertrude Jekyll . The estate’s expansive Georgian Landscape Garden, designed by Copplestone Warre Bamfylde, is typical of the English Landscape era of its time.
Based at Rosemoor between 2015-2019, I studied the RHS level 3 at Rosemoor and worked as horticulturist in the kitchen garden and potager garden.
Roles in both these gardens continues to inform my response to a garden, taking into consideration the wider landscape, historical and geographical context and maintenance.
Expanding plant knowledge through travel
My interest in Mediterranean plants, fuelled by experience of the garrigue landscape in the south of France, later led me to apply for a travel bursary to visit Jordan. This trip in spring 2020, with the Mediterranean Garden Society, was jointly funded through an RHS and Merlin Trust bursary. The trip was led by author and botanist, Oron Peri.
Prior to studying horticulture and Landscape Design, I worked on organic family-run smallholdings through the WWOOF scheme across Europe. I lived and worked across Spain, France, and Portugal. This immersive experience led me to study horticulture when I returned to the UK in 2009.
During my foundation degree in Landscape Design, I later returned to France completing a residential Permaculture Design course at Permaculture Eden.
This enriching experience continues to inspire my planting choices and inform my understanding of how planting styles might be adapted in the future to cope with climate change in the UK.
Education
• Foundation Degree in Landscape Design; Bournemouth University
• RHS Level 2 Horticulture at Cannington College 2009-201
• RHS Level 3 practical 2015-16 RHS Rosemoor, Devon
• Practical horticultural tickets including crosscutting, tractor, brushcutter & spraying certificates.
• Permaculture Design Certificate
• Introduction to using herbs
