Ernest George – Landscape Architect and Garden Designer
I’ve been designing gardens for over thirty years, twenty-three of them here in the Highlands of Scotland, and I still get the same feeling standing in a new garden for the first time – that particular mix of possibility and responsibility. Every plot of land has its own character, its own relationship with the light, the soil and the surrounding landscape. My job is to listen to it, and to you.
I’m a landscape architect and garden designer. Geo Designs is a Registered Practice with the Society of Garden and Landscape Designers (SGLD). I’m an accredited Registered Member of the Society (MSGLD) and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture (MCIHort). I trained at the University of Greenwich, gaining my BA (Hons) and Diploma in Landscape Architecture. These standards matter to me. When you work with Geo Designs, you’re working with an independently accredited practice held to a professional code.
Geo Designs grew from a simple belief: that a well-designed garden doesn’t impose itself on its surroundings – it belongs there. I’ve always had a deep love of the natural world, and I was drawn early on to ecology and the way plants, wildlife and landscape work together. That has shaped everything I do. I don’t just design gardens that look beautiful – I design gardens that work, for the people who use them and for the living world around them.
Over the years I’ve been fortunate to work on some remarkable projects across the Highlands and beyond, from private gardens in Inverness to country estates, commercial sites and a school garden. Along the way I’ve earned awards I’m proud of, including Best in Show at Urban Gardens, Kensington Olympia, an RHS award at Chelsea and a joint APL National Award. But what matters most to me is simpler than that: clients who feel, months or years later, that their garden has become one of their favourite places.
Clients come to Geo Designs when they want a garden designed properly, by someone who knows the Highlands inside out. This is a landscape unlike anywhere else – dramatic, seasonal, sometimes unforgiving – and designing here takes real knowledge of what thrives, what endures and what will look magnificent come June or November. I bring that to every project, along with an enthusiasm for plants, planting and the small details that make a garden feel alive.
I’m still learning, and always will be. Every client and every garden is different, and no two challenges are the same. An urban garden in Inverness needs a different approach from a wildlife garden on the Black Isle or a coastal garden on Skye. And the most satisfying part of all is a happy client.
You can see some of our recent projects here and read what clients have said on our testimonials page here.
If you’re considering a new garden or a fresh direction for an existing one, please get in touch to arrange an initial consultation. We’ll discuss your site, your ideas and how best to take them forward, with no obligation.
Ernest George BA (Hons) DipLA MCIHort MSGLD
Landscape Architect and Garden Designer
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We offer site consultations across the whole of the Highlands and Inverness – the first step in exploring what’s possible with your garden.
