Designing gardens for people & planet

We’re a family-run landscape garden design practice based in Newcastle upon Tyne that creates green spaces people and nature can enjoy. From family gardens to wildlife gardens; urban gardens to cottage gardens; entertaining spaces to somewhere to simply unwind, we can create a space that works for you.

Get in touch

Garden design for everyone

Whether you are looking for quick garden design advice on a small space or project management for a large build, we would love to help with your project.

Get in touch

We can provide advice and guidance around planting and hard landscaping that will work cohesively and create a space that is inviting, beautiful and practical. This can be as simple as a quick chat over the phone or a visit to your garden to discuss the project in more depth.
We will create a fully-annotated concept design for your garden including scale drawings of hard landscaping and key planting features. You can get started on your garden from there or we can project manage the build for you.
Whether you’re looking for us to create a full planting plan and source plants or advice on what plants might suit your space, we’re here to help the right plants end up in the right place.
We work with a great range of peat-free plant nurseries across the country to ensure our plants are sourced sustainably wherever possible.
We can take the stress out of a project for you by managing landscaping, sourcing materials and ensuring a project delivers the best garden for your budget.
We have a great group of landscapers who we work with regularly so we can always find the right people for your build.

Our team

We’re RHS-certified garden designers with a passion for plants and the positive impact gardening can have on people and our planet. Having trained with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, we set up Elder & Fern in 2021, combining our love of things that grow with a decade of experience in design.

Fiona Feltham

DESIGN
Tom Feltham

DESIGN
Ava & Leo Feltham

EXPLORATION & RELAXTION

"Tom and Fiona were a pleasure to work with throughout the design process. They are knowledgeable and passionate about garden design and came up with a plan that far exceeded our expectations and was way beyond anything we could have imagined ourselves."

Sue, York
"The communication and level of detail to every design is fantastic. Their plant knowledge and design ideas really bring gardens to life. I’d highly recommend."

Tom, Newcastle upon Tyne
"Thank you for all the work you have both put into this project. The design and implementation exceeded our expectations, and our plant knowledge has expanded significantly as a result. It has been a real pleasure working with you. We hope your business goes from strength to strength and look forward to seeing you exhibit at Chelsea!"

Keith, Whitley Bay
"We had a lovely experience with Tom and Fiona, who put together a beautiful garden design for us. They took into account our personal style, gardening habits and what we wanted to use the space for and lots more! We are slowly working towards enacting the design in our garden and it’s lovely to have the document they put together as a guide. Thank you both for your help."

Naomi, North Shields
"We’re delighted with the completed garden, and look forward to it maturing over the years. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Tom and Elder and Fern."

Lee, Newcastle upon Tyne
"Love the garden that Tom and Fiona designed...I feel like they’ve created a small nature reserve just outside our back door even though there are plenty of spaces for sitting and entertaining."

Sue, Newcastle upon Tyne
"Tom and Fiona were great to work with and we’re so pleased with the finished results. They gave really helpful suggestions to help us design the initial landscaping and then put together a planting design plan, complete with helpful links to each of the plants that they had suggested. They sourced all the plants and planted them and were easy to communicate with throughout. I would definitely recommend their services."

Helen, Newcastle upon Tyne
"We’re so happy with the garden, I still can’t really believe how beautiful it already is and how much we’re benefitting from it, I can’t wait to see how it transforms through the seasons. Tom and Fiona are so lovely, and so knowledgeable, they are true lovers of nature and were the perfect people to create our garden. We think it’s the best investment we could have made in our home and we’re so grateful to Tom and Fiona for making it happen."

Denise, North Shields
"I can’t recommend Elder & Fern highly enough, our experience with them was fantastic from start to finish. Throughout the process Tom and Fiona have so helpful and creative, taking our very vague thoughts and turning our grey, concrete back yard into a beautiful green oasis. We couldn’t be happier with the result and have used our outside space so much more as a result."

Rob, North Shields
"Amazing experience with Elder & Fern. They designed a wildlife pond for my new build garden to make it more wildlife friendly! The project went very smoothly and looks amazing! I'm delighted."

Olivia, North Shields
"Tom and Fiona have been wonderful from start to finish. Communication has been excellent throughout the process, and the design they created was thoughtful and way beyond anything I could’ve imagined. They really listened to what I wanted, and have been accommodating to any tweaks along the way. Thank you so much - we can’t wait to watch the garden bloom!"

Alex, Whitley Bay
"Tom & Fiona have just completed our garden project and we couldn’t be happier with the end result. They managed everything for us from the very beginning, and were incredibly flexible with our ever changing plans. They took a detailed (picky!) brief and a long list of requirements and nailed the design, making our garden beautiful but functional."

Leanne, Newcastle upon Tyne
"Tom and Fiona have been great to work with on our garden design, landscaping and planting. Not only did they manage to bring together the many different ideas we had for the garden, they also recommended many elements that we didn’t even know we needed like a micro-pond! We were really pleased to find garden designers that shared our values, being wildlife friendly and sustainable. We would highly recommended them."

Helen, Hexham