THE STUDIO
Where Stagecraft Meets the Garden
A garden design practice informed by professional theatre production, exploring how narrative, movement, scenography, lighting and the processes of making can create more engaging spatial experiences.
Established in 2026, Stagecraft brings together years of experience across horticulture, garden and planting design, landscape, theatre and live production.
Drawing on the creative and technical disciplines of theatre, we approach gardens as three-dimensional environments shaped by composition, movement, light, material and time. This perspective is supported by practical horticultural knowledge, cross-disciplinary research and an evolving methodology of drawing, model-making and experimentation.
Our ambition is to create characterful gardens that are not only visually considered, but thoughtfully designed around the people who experience them and the places to which they belong.
Led by Director Oliver Roberts, Stagecraft brings together the specialist expertise required to develop and deliver each project.
The Designer Behind the Studio.
Oliver Roberts
Director
Gardens became the next stage in a career built around making things happen.
Oliver is the Creative Director of Stagecraft Gardens, leading the creative direction of projects and bringing together the specialist people required to realise them.
Oliver moved into horticulture in 2020, bringing a background in theatre production, stage lighting and live events.
Since then, he has developed practical horticultural experience across garden maintenance, landscaping, plant retail, specialist rose retail and commercial plant propagation, alongside formal horticultural study. His experience includes working at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and RHS Hampton Court Flower Festival, supporting the preparation and construction of specialist plant displays and working directly with visitors and customers.
He achieved a distinction in Practical Horticulture and continues to develop his knowledge through practical work, garden visits, professional events, independent research, reading and ongoing study. He is currently undertaking a Professional Diploma in Garden Design with the British Academy of Garden Design as part of his continuing professional development.
His earlier career in theatre, live events and broadcasting, including work with the National Theatre and BBC, developed an understanding of space, movement, atmosphere, detail and the coordination required to bring complex projects together.
In 2026, Oliver established Stagecraft Gardens, bringing these experiences together in a practice focused on garden design, planting design, plant selection and sourcing, and horticultural care.
Stagecraft Gardens brings together spatial thinking and production coordination, practical horticultural knowledge, and a fascination with how planting, structure and composition shape the experience of a garden while allowing it to develop, mature and change over time.
Our People
Stagecraft Gardens is a collaborative garden design practice.
The team is assembled around the requirements of each project, allowing Stagecraft to combine creative direction with the technical and practical expertise needed to develop and deliver each garden.
Oliver leads the creative direction and brings together the specialist skills each project requires, drawing on a network of planting designers, horticulturists, landscapers and specialist craftspeople.
From initial concept and spatial thinking through planting design, technical development and implementation, the right people are brought together at the right stage.
Why Suffolk?
Stagecraft Gardens is based in Sudbury, at the heart of the Stour Valley — a landscape of historic villages, country houses, farmland, water meadows and mature gardens.
This landscape is more than our location. It informs the way we think about gardens.
The area also has a strong artistic heritage, from Thomas Gainsborough in Sudbury to John Constable and the landscapes of the Stour Valley and North Essex. This tradition of observing, interpreting and responding to landscape is part of the character of the place in which we work.
We believe a successful garden should belong to its place. Its architecture, landscape, history, materials, existing vegetation and wider setting should contribute to the design rather than simply provide a backdrop.
The Suffolk–Essex border is particularly rich in this respect. From the historic villages of Lavenham, Clare and Boxford to the landscapes of the Stour Valley and North Essex, there is a strong sense of place and a remarkable variety of gardens and properties.
Our work responds to that character without seeking to impose a single house style. Every garden is different, but the principles remain the same: understand the place, design with intention, use plants thoughtfully and create gardens that develop and mature over time.
A Practice Built Through Experience.
Theatre taught us to think about the whole picture.
Stagecraft Gardens may be a young studio. The experience behind it has been developing for years.
Since moving into horticulture in 2020, Oliver has deliberately sought experience across different parts of the industry.
From growing and sourcing plants to maintaining established gardens, each role has contributed to a broader understanding of what makes a garden work not only at the point of installation, but as it establishes and matures.
This practical experience sits alongside continued study and independent research into horticulture, planting and garden design.
The result is a practice grounded in both design thinking and practical horticultural knowledge.
Connected to the
Industry.
Gardens aren’t created in isolation.
Stagecraft Gardens maintains relationships across the horticultural and landscape industry, from specialist growers and nurseries to contractors and professionals involved in the design, creation and care of gardens.
We are members of the British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) and the Chartered Institute of Horticulture (CIHort).
Our approach is collaborative, drawing on independent expertise in technical design, surveying, landscape construction and specialist horticulture as each project requires. This allows us to bring together the appropriate skills for each commission, while maintaining a clear creative direction and a consistent, personally managed service through Stagecraft Gardens.
We are also proud to be Perennial Partners, supporting the charity's work with people across the horticultural industry.
