Awards & expertise

Awards & expertise

Award-winning garden design from a qualified designer, horticulturist and gardening tutor.

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Northumbria in Bloom

5× Gold

Northumbria in Bloom — Whickham Library Garden won gold for five consecutive years!

Library garden, Whickham
Northumbria in Bloom

RHS Britain in Bloom · since 1964

Northumbria in Bloom is the regional RHS Britain in Bloom campaign. Every year it recognises communities that transform villages, towns and cities through gardening, environmental care and community support.

Judges visit twice, then award a medal. Gold is given against the same national standards used across Britain in Bloom — horticulture, environment and community — not a local popularity vote.

The campaign runs from Berwick in the north to Staithes on the North Yorkshire coast, as part of RHS Britain in Bloom.

Northumbria in Bloom

  1. Horticultural Achievement

    40%

    Gardening knowledge, skill and practice across the whole entry.

  2. Environmental Responsibility

    30%

    Care, maintenance and improvement of the local environment.

  3. Community Participation

    30%

    How local people are engaged, and how the work is sustained.

RHS Britain in Bloom

It's Your Neighbourhood — Outstanding

The Royal Horticultural Society and Northumbria in Bloom awarded Whickham Library Garden Level 5 — Outstanding in 2014 and again in 2015. These are the certificates.

2014 It's Your Neighbourhood Outstanding certificate for Whickham Library Garden

2014

Level 5 — Outstanding

Whickham Library Garden — RHS It's Your Neighbourhood

2015 It's Your Neighbourhood Outstanding certificate for Whickham Library Garden

2015

Level 5 — Outstanding

Whickham Library Garden — RHS It's Your Neighbourhood

Chronicle Live

In the press

Chronicle Live cutting, 26 March 2008 — Whickham Library Garden

Chronicle Live · 26 March 2008

Garden haven for readers

Paving the way

Schoolchildren got a chance to see how The Gateshead Housing Company and its partners had helped pave the way for a new generation of readers at Whickham Library.

A garden design competition with eight local primary schools produced the winning scheme, from former Clover Hill Primary School pupil Harriet Morrison. Local garden designer Kathryn Upton offered her services for free, turning that idea into the final blueprint. The work was supported by £5,000 from the housing company's Community Fund, after Northumbria Police helped secure the perimeter of the building.

When finished, the garden was to include outdoor seating, a herb garden, planting, and a paved literacy garden where schoolchildren could enjoy storytelling sessions. Children and teachers from Clover Hill joined Kathryn and The Friends of Whickham Library Garden to view progress on site.

Newspaper cutting — Blooming great effort by village, July 2008

Chronicle Live · 23 July 2008

Whickham

Blooming great effort by village

The Chronicle reported the opening of the new community garden beside Whickham Library — a space that had been underused and a magnet for anti-social behaviour, turned into a reading area, sensory garden and a place for school and pre-school children.

Harriet Morrison's competition-winning design was built with Cedar Garden Design. The garden was officially opened by the Deputy Mayor of Gateshead, Coun Joe Mitchinson, on 12 July 2008. Coun David Napier spoke about residents and the council working together, with support from The Friends of Whickham Library Garden.

Community garden

Whickham Library Garden

A community library garden, designed free of charge, opened by the Deputy Mayor of Gateshead on 12 July 2008.

The idea for a community library garden came about because of antisocial behaviour among young people meeting in the St Mary's Green area and at the rear of the library. A Problem Solving Panel, led by Inspector Paul Bentley and supported by Neighbourhood Management, identified the rear of the library as an ideal space for a community garden.

Cedar Garden Design agreed to develop the garden free of charge, and worked with local primary schools on design ideas, with prize money for designs provided by U3A. The project drew in the young people who met on the site, and gave different community groups a way to contribute ideas.

The finished garden included a literacy garden with mosaics, outdoor seating, herbs and planting. The Deputy Mayor of Gateshead opened it on 12 July 2008. In 2014 and 2015 the garden received an RHS It's Your Neighbourhood Award of Level 5 — Outstanding, presented by the Royal Horticultural Society and Northumbria in Bloom.

Whickham Library Garden after completion, and the official opening in July 2008
History of Whickham Library Garden — the Problem Solving Panel flyer
History of Whickham Library Garden — the Problem Solving Panel flyer
Before, during and after photographs of Whickham Library Garden
Before, during and after photographs of Whickham Library Garden
The Mayor unveiling mosaics at Whickham Library Garden, 2008
The Mayor unveiling mosaics at Whickham Library Garden, 2008

With thanks to

  • Friends of Whickham Library Garden
  • Cedar Garden Design
  • Northumbria Police
  • U3A
  • Neighbourhood Management

And to everyone who donated their time and money to make this community garden a success.

Printed thanks list for Whickham Library Garden

Inspired by Whickham

Birtley Heritage Garden

A garden for Birtley Library, inspired by the success of Whickham — designed with Birtley Heritage Group in 2021.

Inspired by the success of Whickham Library Garden, former library manager Christine Myhill suggested that Birtley Heritage Group might do something similar with the derelict land around Birtley Library. The group commissioned a garden designer, and together they shaped an urban garden the whole community could use.

Birtley Heritage Group is made up of residents who want the town's past kept visible — churches, plaques, street names, industry, photographs and folklore, as well as the facts in the guide books. They wanted the garden to reflect mining, brickworks and ironworks, and the more than 6,000 Belgians who lived at Elisabethville in Birtley during the First World War. Old coping stones, bricks, coal wagons and chimney stacks were to be worked into the sensory planting so that history stayed on the ground, not only in the archive.

The October 2021 developer's plan — marked Cedar Garden, Birtley — sets out cottage-style paths made from original paving and designed to be wheelchair accessible, railway-sleeper raised beds, planted Birtley wagons, a herb garden, a woodland glade, a circular paved seating area, and the existing stone wall repaired and planted with alpines.

Cedar Garden, Birtley — developer's copy of the October 2021 site plan
Birtley Heritage Garden leaflet — who Birtley Heritage Group are
Birtley Heritage Garden leaflet — who Birtley Heritage Group are
Birtley Heritage Group brief, showing the derelict land around Birtley Library and early sketches
Birtley Heritage Group brief, showing the derelict land around Birtley Library and early sketches
Heritage notes and 1916–1918 photograph of a family gardening at Elisabethville, Birtley
Heritage notes and 1916–1918 photograph of a family gardening at Elisabethville, Birtley
Watercolour sketches and annotated plan for Cedar Garden, Birtley, October–November 2021
Watercolour sketches and annotated plan for Cedar Garden, Birtley, October–November 2021

With thanks to

  • Birtley Heritage Group
  • Dobbies Garden Centre
  • Rotary Town Raffle
  • Local councillors
  • Soul Soup / Generations Together

And to the other funding bodies who helped the group take the library garden from a derelict site to a plan.

Birtley Heritage Garden leaflet, listing supporters including Dobbies, Rotary and local councillors

Community & commercial

Whickham Golf Club — 100 years

Kathryn's community work also includes Whickham Golf Club. The scrapbook records the club's 100-year commemoration, with a landscaped setting around the memorial stone.

Whickham Golf Club 100-year commemoration, with the memorial stone in a planted setting

About Kathryn

Award-winning garden design from a qualified designer, horticulturist and gardening tutor.

As a qualified garden designer, horticulturist and gardening tutor Kathryn combines her creative flair and passion for garden design with her love of community, drawing on her spatial awareness to create thoughtful and innovative gardens for a variety of clients and environments ranging from residential and commercial properties to hospitals, schools and golf clubs.

  • Garden Designer

  • Horticulturist

  • Gardening Tutor

  • Established 2003

Community & Commercial

07
Whickham Library Garden after completion, officially opened on 12 July 2008

Library garden, Whickham

A community library garden designed free of charge with local primary schools. Opened by the Deputy Mayor of Gateshead on 12 July 2008, and later awarded RHS It's Your Neighbourhood Level 5 — Outstanding in 2014 and 2015. The Chronicle covered the work in March and July 2008.

View project
Cedar Garden, Birtley — October 2021 site plan

Heritage garden, Birtley

Inspired by Whickham Library Garden, Birtley Heritage Group commissioned a garden for the derelict land around Birtley Library. The October 2021 Cedar Garden plan weaves in the town's mining, brick and Belgian wartime heritage.

View project

Gardens for schools, hospitals and community health

School & Healthcare Gardens

Kathryn designs gardens for schools, hospitals and community health settings — playgrounds, school landscaping, sensory gardens, dementia gardens, therapeutic gardens and memorial gardens and borders.

These projects sit alongside Cedar's community work, including award-winning public planting such as Whickham Library Garden, which won gold at Northumbria in Bloom for five consecutive years.

The same design process applies: understand how the space will be used, survey the site, and produce a plan that is practical for the people who will spend time there.

  • Playground design and school landscaping
  • Hospital and healthcare gardens
  • Sensory gardens
  • Dementia gardens and therapeutic gardens
  • Memorial gardens and borders
School & Healthcare Gardens
School and healthcare garden
Placeholder image

What our clients say…

Kathryn of Cedar Garden Design transformed the front of our house with exquisite planting, paving and lighting. When it is admired, we have to concede that we can take no credit!

Her design and attention to detail exceeded expectations, and together with her enthusiasm and efficiency, make a winning combination.

Lesley Atkinson — Newcastle upon Tyne

Get in touch

Please feel free to contact me to discuss your project, whatever the scale or budget.

Cedar Garden Design

North East Garden Design Services

KATHRYN@CEDARGARDENDESIGN.CO.UK

07528 096 276

WhickhamNewcastle upon Tyne