Congratulations to Caroline Bailey from London College of Garden Design. Caroline, studying for her Diploma in Garden Design, has been selected as one of our 2026 Garden Design Students of the Year for the South Thames region.
With a love of plants and gardening, Caroline has switched careers from TV and film production and connected with “the most fantastic, talented people” in horticulture and garden design. She has grown in confidence and her career has flourished too, moving from a weekend hobby to a way of life. Allowing Caroline to use garden design as her new vessel for visual storytelling, she hopes to run her own garden design practice, working on a range of residential and public realm projects.
She wants to engage with young people from all backgrounds and share the importance of having better, more relevant spaces – and tell them that there are so many roles within horticulture that use professional skills beyond planting; technology, CAD, placemaking.
Course Leader, James Aldridge says of Caroline that she:
“…brings a unique approach to garden design, developing engaging contemporary schemes with interesting and detailed nuances. Caroline has excelled within the construction design and surveying elements (unique to our course) too. She demonstrates her passion, drive and focus in all that she does.”