About Sally Tierney
Chelsea Silver-Gilt medallist. Two-time Harrogate Gold winner. SGD Registered Member. Designing Yorkshire gardens since 1997.
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Designing gardens with heart and purpose
I'm an award-winning Yorkshire garden designer and horticulturalist who's been designing private gardens since 1997. I create spaces that are beautiful, easy to live with, and full of quiet life.
I began in horticulture properly, with an apprenticeship through English Heritage. It was exacting, detailed work, and it gave me a foundation that's shaped everything I've done since. I learned how gardens are built from the ground up: soil first, structure second, plants third.
From there I moved into private garden design. I was drawn to the particular challenge of designing gardens for people who love outdoor space but don't necessarily want to spend every weekend fighting with it. That tension between beauty and practicality is where all my best work happens.
I believe gardens should be a joy. A well-designed garden isn't just lovely to look at. It gives you peace and connection. And with a few gentle shifts, it can also become a haven for wildlife. That matters deeply to me.
A beautiful garden should fit your life. And if it can quietly give something back to the world around it, all the better.
Sally Tierney
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How I think about gardens
I start every project with a simple belief: a garden that you can't maintain has failed, regardless of how beautiful the design plan looked.
So before I specify a single plant or surface, I ask about your life. How do you actually use your garden? How much time do you have? What would feel like success in three years' time?
The answers shape everything. The depth of borders. The choice of materials. The plants I'll put in and the ones I'll leave out.
Credentials and experience
RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Silver-Gilt Medal. The UK's most respected horticultural event. A Silver-Gilt medal reflects sustained excellence across design, planting, and presentation.
Harrogate Flower Show, Gold Medal, two years running. Consecutive gold medals at Harrogate, a show with deep roots in Yorkshire gardening and highly competitive standards in garden design.
English Heritage, Trained Apprenticeship. A rigorous, hands-on training in horticulture within the context of some of England's most significant historic landscapes. This is where I learned to look carefully: at soil, at structure, at what a space actually needs.
Society of Garden Designers, Registered Member. The Society of Garden Designers sets professional standards for the industry. Registered Membership requires demonstrated design competence and ongoing professional development.
Chartered Institute of Horticulture, Member. Professional membership of the UK's leading horticultural body, reflecting both formal training and continuing commitment to the field.
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Former Trustee. A governance role that deepened my understanding of ecological responsibility and conservation practice. I carry those principles into every garden I design.
Sally understood exactly what I wanted — space I actually wanted to spend time in. The garden she created isn't what I thought I wanted. It's better.
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Wildlife sits quietly inside all of this
Wildlife is disappearing across Yorkshire. But so many of my clients want to change that. They want a garden that works for them, and gives something back to the world around them.
Gardens that support birds, insects, and hedgehogs don't have to be unruly. With the right structure and the right plants, a garden can be ordered, calm, and ecologically generous at the same time. That's exactly where I can help.
What clients say about working with me
From the very first conversation, Sally was clear that she was designing for us, not for a photograph. She asked questions I hadn't thought to ask myself. The result is a garden we actually use.
Sally has a way of making you feel completely confident. She's seen every garden problem before, and she's calm about all of them. That calmness transfers.
I expected a designer to push her own ideas. Sally was entirely focused on what would work for us. She was honest when something wouldn't work, and that honesty is worth a great deal.