Sophia's Gardens

Sophia's Gardens We create
•Beautiful Gardens which:
•Work Practically &
•Suit your Personal style. From incep Do you want your outdoor space to be Beautiful? We will!

Do you want your outdoor space to be Relaxing, Easy to care for and Practical? Do you want someone to take away all the hassle of getting it right, yet make it Personally Yours? Sophia's Gardens are an innovative, award winning landscape and garden design company able to manage complete projects: inception, design, tendering and site-work. Our client-focussed projects range from private homeowners, to public spaces, to show-home gardens, brought in to budget and on time.

✨ What an amazing experience! ✨ Quietly deadheading in my front garden, when this tiny creature whizzed by me then stopp...
21/06/2026

✨ What an amazing experience! ✨
Quietly deadheading in my front garden, when this tiny creature whizzed by me then stopped to feed on the Red Valerian nectar!
🌿 Now, I certainly didn't plant the Red Valerian, it put itself there and I enjoyed its company so I left it. But I hadn't expected to find it was a favourite with this precious Hummingbird Hawk Moth too!
🌿 Red Valerian is gorgeous but a total thug, so I've been pulling it out of all the nooks and crannies it's spread to 🙄. I'll be preserving some for sure now though!
😅 Apologies for the poor image quality - I was so pleased to manage to capture it at all ✨

12/06/2026

🌿 I hope you'll enjoy this short clip explaining a few things about my shortlisted garden 🤩.
🌿 This was one of many taken during the build, from just before completion.
🌿 I had to record a new soundtrack for the competition entry because the client's terrier dog was having quite a barky moment😅

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07/06/2026

🌿 Hosta Heaven🌿
Just watch those plants grow!
A reminder that plants often turn out different (and bigger) than you picture 😅

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✨ I'm thrilled to be shortlisted for TWO awards! 🌿 My beloved Northumberland Accessible and Artistic Garden has been nom...
31/05/2026

✨ I'm thrilled to be shortlisted for TWO awards!
🌿 My beloved Northumberland Accessible and Artistic Garden has been nominated in both the Design and Planting Design categories of the Pro Landscaper Project Awards.
✨️ Winners are announced in July - wish me luck!

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🌿 An update on my biodiverse turf trial, as promised 🌿🌿 It laid in November just like ordinary turf; just a touch thicke...
24/05/2026

🌿 An update on my biodiverse turf trial, as promised 🌿
🌿 It laid in November just like ordinary turf; just a touch thicker (image 1).
🌿 Through the winter it coped well with the frost and occasional snow (image 2).
🌿 By April it was into growth and got fairly shaggy before the first mow (images 3&4).
🌿 We've been cutting it in May, and although, expectedly, the first cut left it a bit yellow-looking, after the second cut last weekend it's growing away well, looks quite verdant, and is covered with tiny black flower lollipops, making it a very textured and yet neutral backdrop for the flower borders (images 5&6)

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🏡 I really do love garden builds, even with the stress! ✨ There are brilliant moments when you can see our bespoke acces...
17/05/2026

🏡 I really do love garden builds, even with the stress!
✨ There are brilliant moments when you can see our bespoke accessibility shed is so solid it can be laid on for painting.
✨ Sometimes it looks worse 🫨 before it improves, but each step of progress is so exciting!

PS the photo sequence is Build Rear/Before Rear/Build Rear/Before Front/Build Front

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A blissful weekend is in store for Harrogate Spring Flower Show! Perfect weather today, and a great resource for keen ga...
26/04/2026

A blissful weekend is in store for Harrogate Spring Flower Show! Perfect weather today, and a great resource for keen gardeners, so go!
The mini show gardens were nicely designed. This was my favourite feature; the irregular fencing is similar in profile to the Japanese-influenced bamboo fencing in my Artistic Accessible garden 😊.

😮 Caught in the act! 😮Night-time hunter prowls patio, and makes a swift getaway!We've seen a good number in our pond thi...
17/04/2026

😮 Caught in the act! 😮
Night-time hunter prowls patio, and makes a swift getaway!
We've seen a good number in our pond this year - thrilling, since we completely re-built rebuilt the pond’s structure last autumn - they were probably hibernating in a quiet part of the garden 🙂.
🍀 I've added additional pond plants this year; in particular Marsilea quadrifolia, the Water Clover, which is a must for newt reproduction according to Dawn Fisher of Lincolnshire Pond Plants. 🍀
☺️ It’s hard to know exactly how many newts we have, but we’re proud our garden is a good home for them ☺️.

For skillful & successful, wildlife-friendly garden and pond design do get in touch! DM or visit the website (details in the bio).

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🌿 As you know - it's time for more biodiversity!🌿 I thought I'd share this entertaining photo from last autumn where I a...
12/04/2026

🌿 As you know - it's time for more biodiversity!🌿
I thought I'd share this entertaining photo from last autumn where I am exhibiting the latest fashion in turf😆.
It's called Biodiverse Turf and can be easily bought from a number of suppliers - this one is from Rolawn, who profess to include 20 different wildflower species alongside deep-rooted fescues - the highest species count I encountered while researching it, and surprisingly the cheapest too - a win-win-win for biodiversity, design and budget!
Another benefit I’ll be testing this year is greater resilience to drought and waterlogging because of the different rooting structures of all the different plants.
It is admittedly too messy for some - you can see on delivery it is straggly, and after its first mow this spring it looks rather more bouffant and textured than a uniform grass-only turf would (at least before the moss and weeds get a hold!).
So, I thought I should be the guinea pig for this style of turf, before I lay it on any unsuspecting client! I'll post later in the year on its progress; I'm most uncertain of the best mowing regime - if anyone has experience, I'd love to hear.
⭐️ In the meantime, should I keep the wig?!⭐️

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🪻 Happy Easter from Sophia's Gardens🪻 ☀️Wishing you many sunny hours in your gardens!☀️I thought I'd share this cheering...
05/04/2026

🪻 Happy Easter from Sophia's Gardens🪻
☀️Wishing you many sunny hours in your gardens!☀️
I thought I'd share this cheering photo of an outstanding new helebore: Helleborus 'Winter Ballet Leona'.
🌿 I wanted to share a cheerful shot of a lovely new hellebore in my border: Helleborus 'Winter Ballet Leona'. The photo was taken at the end of February, so it's past its prime now, but it was a delight from mid‑winter onwards. It's handled the fairly dry soil and the strong winds we've had this year really well. The foliage isn't particularly striking, unlike Helleborus 'Anna's Red', whose marbled leaves give almost year‑round interest, yet that understatement makes it a useful backdrop in a summer border. 🌿
🌿 It was an impulse buy that I've never regretted! 🌿

🌷 If you’d like planting design help, DM me or visit the website (link in bio). 🌷

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Address

Design Works, William Street, Felling
Gateshead
NE100JP

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 7pm
Friday 9am - 6pm

Telephone

+447866124376

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