ABOUT
Our Approach
We combine thoughtful design with practical expertise to create gardens that:
- Support pollinators and local ecosystems
- Provide beauty across the seasons
- Incorporate edible planting and food-growing opportunities
- Fit naturally with your lifestyle and space
Let’s Grow Something Beautiful
Whether you’re starting fresh or enhancing an existing space, Steph Orla Gardens offers a collaborative, tailored approach to bring your vision to life.
Meet the Team
STEPH ORLA
Steph Orla is a regenerative gardener, food grower, designer, writer, horticultural therapist and founder of Steph Orla Gardens. With years of experience in growing, nature-friendly design and horticultural therapy she will work with you to nurture an outdoor space that suits your needs and personal style.
She has RHS Level 2 qualifications in Principles of Plant Growth, Propagation and Development, she is a trained permaculture designer and a published gardening writer.
Heather, The Glam Gardener
Heather Leigh is a trained gardener and multi-award winning artist. With a Certificate in Practical Horticulture and an RHS Level 2 with distinction, she is a true plantswoman.
As the Co-Head Gardener/Chair of the Glasgow Flower Gardens she is well versed in managing community garden spaces. She boasts particular expertise in pruning and topiary and has a keen eye for detail.
Get in touchValues
We are a small multidisciplinary team of horticulturalists, food growers and designers based in Glasgow.
We create and maintain gardens that support our wildlife and the ecosystem of your garden. To that end, we work with these principles in mind:
Proactive For Nature
Rather than being net neutral for nature, we work to proactively improve the sites we work with. We prioritise pollinator-friendly planting and native species to provide food and shelter for our wildlife. We build ponds, bug hotels, meadows and mounds to encourage as many different species as possible to visit your garden.
There’s no compromise between having a beautiful garden and one that is a feast for wildlife. All gardens can do both.
All Electric
To ensure low emission, quiet gardening we work with only battery-powered tools and drive an electric van charged from renewable energy sources. Kinder to the environment, your ears and your neighbours.
No Synthetic Herbicides, Pesticides, or Fungicides
These chemicals are bad for humans and wildlife. They do not degrade in the environment and they are made using fossil fuels. What’s more, there really is no need for them—there are natural predators already available in your garden, most of which are in decline and would benefit from the food source. Ladybirds, hoverflies and lacewing larvae will eat aphids, while hedgehogs, birds and frogs will eat slugs and snails. We work to bring those animals to your gardens.
Circular Gardening
Each garden has its own complex and beautiful ecosystem and we work with that not against it. We strive to compost all garden waste on site, collect rainwater, use fallen leaves as mulch and remove as little as possible from the site through recycling, repurposing and composting.