ABOUT
Cleve West Ltd is an award-winning practice in south-west London which has been designing gardens since 1990. Projects are diverse, from contemporary urban sanctuaries to large rural retreats, mostly in the UK.
Whether in town or in the country, Cleve’s aim is to combine structure with sensuality, the classic with the contemporary, invariably with an element of surprise and always with a keen sense of space, artistry and craftmanship.
His work is driven by an ethos of sustainability, biodiversity, and the healing power of gardens. This has inevitably led to a sensitive approach where human intervention is carefully considered to mitigate biodiversity and habitat loss while opportunities are explored to enhance and improve landscapes for wildlife to flourish.
Cleve West FSGLD
I studied garden design at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, under the tutelage of the late John Brookes MBE.
Based in Hampton Wick, south-west London, I’m conveniently placed for projects in London and the home counties but can be tempted further within the UK.
Increasingly, my respect and concern for the environment and all its lifeforms, brings my interventions as a garden designer into sharp focus. With one finger on the pulse of mother nature, gardeners have a vested interest in and genuine concern for a more sustainable future.
I enjoy, therefore, working with clients who share my enthusiasm for rekindling our connection with the complexities of the natural world and to foster a sense of care and responsibility for the ecosystems we rely on.
“We have to displace our sense of entitlement in all that we do, and have to start getting comfortable gardening with a viewpoint that is not entirely human….We should strive to make landscapes that are not only attractive and useful to us, but that are equally if not more attractive and useful to other species.”
Benjamin Vogt - A New Garden Ethic: Cultivating Defiant Compassion for an Uncertain Future (New Society - 2017)
Stephanie Marling
Following a degree in Art History & English, I worked on art magazines before studying at the London College of Fashion and apprenticing as a milliner. This led to a career in film and theatre, where I travelled throughout Europe in the Costume department. While raising a young family, I set up and ran a Forest School in London, and also volunteered as a gardener at Eltham Palace. I subsequently retrained in Horticulture at Hadlow College and Planting Design at Capel Manor.
With over 15 years experience as a gardener, from working on rewilding initiatives and regenerative projects, to urban spaces and planting Gold Medal-winning gardens at Chelsea Flower Show, it is such a pleasure to collaborate with Cleve. United by our shared commitment to sustainable, nature-led gardens, I bring a creative sensibility and particular focus on low-impact planting, orchards, meadows and regenerative practices.
Awards
Cleve’s design for Horatio’s Garden (Salisbury) won three awards at the 2014 Society of Garden Designers’Award Ceremony including Commercial or Community Garden Award, The Homes and Gardens’ Peoples’ Choice Award and the Judges Award.
Contractor: Wycliffe Landscapes
Chelsea Flower Show
Cleve has designed several gardens for the Chelsea Flower Show, seven of which have won RHS Gold Medals. He is the only designer to have won Best in Show two years in succession.
2023 – Gold Medal and Best Construction Award - The Centrepoint Garden
Sponsor: Project Giving Back
Contractor: Crocus.co.uk
Nursery: Hortus Loci
Planting team led by: Humaira Ikram
2016 – Gold Medal & Best Construction Award - The M&G Garden
Sponsor: M&G Investments
Contractor: Swatton Landscape
Nursery: Hortus Loci
Planting team led by: Chris & Toby Marchant
2014 – Gold Medal – The M&G Garden
Sponsor: M&G Investments
Contractor: Swatton Landscape
Nursery: Hortus Loci
Planting team led by: Chris & Toby Marchant
2012 – Gold Medal and Best in Show – Brewin Dolphin Garden
Sponsor: Brewin Dolphin
Contractor: Swatton Landscape
Nursery: Hortus Loci
Planting team led by: Chris & Toby Marchant
2011 – Gold Medal and Best in Show -The Telegraph Garden
Sponsor: The Telegraph
Contractor: Crocus.co.uk
Nursery: Crocus.co.uk
Planting team led by: Chris & Toby Marchant
2008 – Gold Medal and BBC/People’s Choice Award – Bupa Garden
Sponsor: Bupa
Contractor: Henley Salt Landscapes
Nursery: Deepdale Trees & Orchard Dene Nurseries
Planting team led by: Chris & Toby Marchant
2006 – Gold Medal – Saga Insurance Garden
Sponsor: Saga Insurance
Contractor: Henley Salt Landscapes
Nursery: Deepdale Trees, Jekka’s Herb Farm & Orchard Dene
Nurseries
Planting team led by: Chris & Toby Marchant
Writing
Cleve has authored two books:
‘Our Plot’ (Frances Lincoln 2011) celebrates a decade of working an allotment in Bushy Park, Hampton Hill, southwest London.
‘The Garden of Vegan’ (Pimpernel Press 2020) explains how plants can mitigate and even fix some of the world’s most pressing problems and how gardeners are well placed to be at the vanguard of the plant-based movement.
