HOW I WORK
How I work is as important as what I do. Rooted in Systems Thinking and the Whole Person Approach, my practice is underpinned by a deep understanding of the connection between the individual, the community, and the wider ecosystem. Embracing the I, WE, ALL OF US framework is central to everything I do.
I treat every individual site as a vital pixel in a larger ecological network. While public parks, woodlands, and other natural land cover account for 30% of the urban area in England, domestic gardens make up another astonishing 30%. Together, this 60% footprint means our managed green spaces are a critical part of the solution to the dual climate change and biodiversity crises.
In addition to helping pollinators and the environment, our green spaces also support and sustain us, humans. They are part of the mosaic of solutions to our current health crisis. Contact with nature has a direct, measurable impact on our lives, lowering stress levels and boosting long-term mental and physical resilience. I work to maximise this health potential in every project I engage with. Scroll down to find out more.
- Zoned areas for relaxation, integrated with edible planting
- Low-maintenance planting that matures beautifully over time
- Natural pest management, where slugs and snails are tolerated
- A commitment to living soil and absolutely no artificial turf
- Drought and flood-tolerant planting strategies
- Maximised permeable surfaces, keeping paving to a minimum
- Low irrigation requirements, moving away from high-maintenance traditional lawns
- Rainwater harvesting and household water reuse for irrigation
- Prioritising local, cost-effective materials with low long-term maintenance
- Reusing and repurposing existing garden features
- Balancing cost-effective seed sowing and young plants with key investment pieces like larger trees
- Designing phased layouts that allow you to build and invest at your own pace
- Applying biophilic and neuroscience principles to improve health and well-being
- Moving beyond 'right plant, right place' to focus on plant communities
- Sharing knowledge and collaborating with like-minded practitioners
- Finding innovative, integrated solutions for people, pollinators, and the planet
WHAT I DO
-
Hands-on Advice
Different ways to plan, create, and transform green spaces:
- Consultation: Single-session input, plant lists, and quick-win recommendations
- Coaching: Ongoing mentorship and hands-on skill building
- Makeovers: Full transformations using trusted partners for the heavy lifting
Ideal for green spaces of any scale, from residential gardens to larger public and community projects.
-
Participatory Research
Drawing on decades of sustainability and climate change consultancy, our focus areas include:
- People & nature: Connecting the benefits of green spaces to health and wellbeing
- Unconventional wisdom: Learning from local people, indigenous leaders, and nature itself
- Co-designed facilitation: Integrating research and community input into decision-making
Ideal for charities and organisations prioritising community-led and participatory research.
-
Whole-person Teaching
Connecting young people with nature through immersive and experiential learning:
- Sustainable cities: A study abroad course on green urban systems and community projects
- Sustainable London: A study abroad course exploring the city's iconic landscapes
- Youth research: Tailored virtual training in collaborative climate change evaluation
Ideal for universities and organisations prioritising experiential education.
PROJECTS AND CLIENTS
In my hands-on advice work with residential urban gardens, I listen to each client's story, consider their needs and tailor our advice to their ambition, budget and realistic timeframes. Below are examples of projects and feedback on the difference our advice made in each case.
OBSERVATIONS AND REFLECTIONS
This space is where I share my own photographs with the personal reflections behind the lens. I take a closer look at our relationship with the natural world, showing what happens when we slow down and pay attention to the green spaces and living organisms around us.
ABOUT ME
My journey into the world of gardening began with a personal transition from indoor planting in apartments to practical, hands-on garden makeovers.
Today, combining careers allows me to bring twenty years of experience in international sustainability and climate change consulting to my garden design practice, while also conducting participatory research on green spaces and teaching fieldwork classes across London.
My work is built on solid foundations, including a mechanical engineering degree, an MSc from LSE focused on the environment and development, and training in naturalistic planting.
I invite you to click below to learn more about each aspect of my life.
The origins of Ar & Terra Gardens trace back to my childhood on the tenth floor of an apartment block in Rio de Janeiro. Surrounded by Brazil’s abundant landscape on the ground, at home, we only had indoor plants and a small balcony. After moving to London, I continued to live in apartments for the first ten years here. I filled the spaces with indoor plants, but still without a garden.
My experience in caring for a garden only came when I moved into a house. It had a standard back garden with a strip of grass in the middle and two narrow borders on either side. Transforming that space was my first step into proper gardening. I learned the hard way by planting without planning and ignoring how plant communities live together.
After the pandemic, we moved houses, and that was a chance to start over. Determined to bridge the gaps in my knowledge, I taught myself about plant species and landscape design. I joined the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), gathering insight and inspiration from their magazines, books, and garden visits, and applied both my new insights and my early mistakes to my second garden makeover.
Friends who had followed my progress over the years, from lovely houseplants to my first and second garden makeovers, loved the results. They began asking for help with their own gardens and encouraged me to turn this into a career. Realising how easily feeling overwhelmed can ruin the excitement of a garden revamp, I created Ar & Terra Gardens.
Today, my practice connects my background in international development with my current focus on urban green spaces and health and well-being. Spending two decades as a sustainability and climate change consultant took me around the world to places like India, Mozambique, and the Galápagos. My work with Ar & Terra Consultancy taught me to look at landscapes through a wider lens, showing me how ecosystems and communities rely on one another.
I now bring the active listening and project management skills from my consultancy years into hands-on advisory work, offering structured consultation, coaching, and full makeovers for green spaces. Alongside this, I keep my hands in the soil as a garden volunteer with the teams at Ham House (National Trust), the Isabella Plantation (The Royal Parks), and Orleans House Gallery (Richmond Council).
My background also shapes my participatory research for charities and organisations. For example, I work with my long-term partners, ZIGLA and INTRAC, to run a semi-independent monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) unit for the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare’s NHS Forest 'Healthy by Nature' programme. Together, we evaluate the benefits of green spaces for health and well-being across 38 hospitals in England.
This combination of sustainability, research, and design drives my teaching. I take students out of the classroom to explore London's ecosystems at sites like the Barnes Wetland Centre to see a nature reserve thriving inside a city, and the Sky Garden to explore public planting at the top of a building. At the Natural History Museum, we study how the new outdoor gardens act as living galleries, turning the landscape itself into an open-air museum exhibition.
My perspective is rooted in a Mechanical Engineering degree from PUC-Rio, which has given me a highly practical, solution-driven mindset and strong spatial awareness. Building on this, my MSc in Environment and Development from LSE focused on environmental behaviour and how to gently nudge people toward eco-friendly habits.
More recently, I have broadened my skills through the Naturalistic Planting Design Course, training under Noel Kingsbury, Cassian Schmidt, and Nigel Dunnett, and by taking part in several Stefano Marinaz Landscape Architecture Masterclasses. I am also working towards a professional diploma in Garden Design with the British Academy of Garden Design.
To stay connected with the wider horticultural and landscape design community, I am a member of the Surrey Garden Design Group (SGDG), the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (RBG Kew).
On a personal note, I am a dual British-Brazilian citizen based in South-West London. Alongside English and Portuguese, I speak Spanish. My life outside of work includes spending time with my husband and his family in Lancashire and my family in Rio when I can. My hobbies include photography, cycling and scuba-diving.
