About Sarah
Sarah Plested is an award-winning garden designer and horticulturist. Her passions are plants and their place in our natural environment; how we interact with them and the important role they play in our outdoor spaces, both in our gardens, at work and within our communities.
Each project aims to increase biodiversity and have a positive impact on the health and well-being of the client and those who use the garden, the environment, and the natural world.
Projects include residential and commercial gardens, large and small, concentrating on creating a garden with a strong sense of place, drawing inspiration from the architecture and surrounding landscape whether that be in an urban, city or rural setting.
Sarah is a Garden Designer member of the Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) and the Chartered Institute of Horticulture (CIoH). Bramley Apple Garden Design received a Gold Award at the prestigious APL Industry Awards 2023 and received a Silver and Silver Merit at the 2024 awards.
Sarah Plested
Why Bramley Apple Design?
Sarah grew up in Southwell, Nottinghamshire where the first Bramley’s Seedling grew from pips planted in a little girl’s garden in 1809. When a butcher named Matthew Bramley purchased the cottage and garden he gave permission for a local nurseryman, Henry Merryweather to take cuttings from the tree and sell the apples.
Her family lived opposite Merryweather’s nursery and her parents planted a Bramley’s Seedling in their garden. When Sarah married, her sister gave the couple a young tree which was planted in her first garden in Bramley, Hampshire. She couldn’t really name the company anything else!
My Garden Design Story
Gardening was a hobby which I was lucky enough to turn into a career. In 2010 I studied for the RHS Certificate in Horticulture and built a base of garden maintenance clients. This solid practical grounding and knowledge of plants has been invaluable when designing planting schemes for my projects.
Design was a natural progression for me and after obtaining a Diploma in Garden Design from the KLC School of Design and the added accolade of Student of the Year, my design portfolio began to grow.
My other passions are dance and the arts having had a previous career as a professional ballet dancer. Art and design have always been a part of my life, studying Fine Art at A’level and enjoying painting in my spare time.
Working within the marketing industry in an advertising agency for 10 years, I acquired strong project management skills, ensuring projects run smoothly from initial concept to the final plant in the ground.