‘If you immerse yourself you’re rewarded with treats’

When I was first learning about plants, I visited Kew Gardens repeatedly and it’s now a habit. I go back to gardens to see how certain plants are getting on, how they’re managing in different weather conditions and watch them grow.

Sheffield Park is a Capability Brown landscape of goodness knows how many acres. The big house is now private flats but the National Trust manages the gardens. Around the house it’s quite formal, but as you go exploring it becomes less garden and more park.

I’m always torn between having my work head on and relaxing and enjoying it. I move from head to heart as I get away from the formal areas. Near the house,

I’m always assessing and thinking but, when I walk out to the lessmanaged areas I feel the garden invigorating my soul instead.

National Trust gardens are very good from a practical point of view. They’re well laid out with good paths and well-designed spaces. As a working mother I could let the children run on the grass while I looked at plants. Going to Sheffield Park to look at the autumn colour is a family tradition.

The way in which people engage with gardens and landscapes underpins all my design work. I originally trained as a medical doctor and have a psychology degree, so I came to garden design from a peoplefocused perspective. I really enjoy it when novice gardeners get hooked – they come back transformed!

I’m a big fan of pampas grass. It’s big, but the scale works in the setting. There's also a spot where an acer tree hangs out over the water. The reflection and the light shining through the leaves and sparkling on the water is breathtaking.

I look carefully. There’s a fantastic cascade next to a bridge where everyone stops, but if you immerse yourself you’re rewarded with treats you don’t see if you rush past.

■ Sheffield Park and Garden, Uckfield, East Sussex TN22 3QX; www.nationaltrust.org. uk/sheffield-park-and-garden.