A garden designer designs the outdoor space in its entirety — spatial composition, drainage, lighting, planting, and the production of detailed technical drawings for the contractors who carry out the works.

At Studio Kernin, we design but do not build. This independence allows us to focus entirely on what is best for the site, the climate, and the project — free from any commercial ties to materials or contractors.

François Kernin holds diplomas from the Oxford College of Garden Design and the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). He trained with Wirtz International, one of Europe's most respected landscape architecture practices, and honed his expertise in naturalistic planting design through masterclasses with Nigel Dunnett, Cassian Schmidt, and Tom Stuart-Smith. He also worked as a gardener at the Jardins de Kerdalo, one of Brittany's finest private gardens.

Tai Sayarath is currently studying at the London School of Garden Design, a world-leading institution in landscape and garden design. An artist with an international background — painter, photographer, and potter trained under a traditional Japanese master — she brings a rare sensitivity to craft, materiality and detail. A graduate of the University of Oxford, she has lived and worked across the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, and integrates this breadth of cultural experience into her design work.

Our team is fully bilingual in French and English.

Based in Rennes and Larmor-Plage in Brittany, we work primarily across the region — including Morbihan, Ille-et-Vilaine and Côtes-d'Armor — as well as occasionally elsewhere in France and abroad.

We work regularly in Lorient, Vannes, Rennes and Saint-Malo, and have recent experience of projects in Poland and England.

We offer three levels of service, tailored to the nature and ambition of each project.

Bespoke garden design is our core service and most comprehensive offering: site visit, survey, spatial design, technical drawings, specifications and planting plan. It is suited to projects requiring a thorough and detailed landscape design process.

Design consultation is a lighter form of guidance, often delivered remotely, particularly suited to small gardens, evolving projects, or clients seeking focused advice without a full design commission.

Botanical and planting design focuses on plant composition: species selection, planting structure, seasonal palette and planting density, to create gardens that are enduring, coherent and alive.

We design naturalistic, sustainable and elegant gardens, drawing on the traditions of contemporary English garden design, romantic planting and ecological landscaping. Our approach combines a clear architectural structure — volumes, paths, terraces — with plantings inspired by natural landscapes, rich in texture, movement and seasonality.

We work on projects of all scales, from small urban gardens to large private estates, for both private clients and professionals.

Every project is unique, and fees depend on the size, complexity and service chosen. Our design consultation service starts from €449 for small gardens and terraces. Bespoke garden design is quoted individually following a site visit. In all cases, we provide a detailed visit report with an estimated construction budget and a design fee proposal, before any commitment.

Yes. Our team is fully bilingual in French and English, and we regularly work with British, American and international clients living in Brittany or looking to create a garden in France. We are happy to conduct the entire project in English.

Yes. We aim to create gardens that are sustainable and realistic in their day-to-day management, adapted to the time and involvement of their owners. Careful plant selection, grouping plants with similar needs, and the ecological coherence of the design all help to reduce maintenance while preserving a living, natural aesthetic.

Some tasks require less time than knowledge — which is why we provide every client with a personalised maintenance guide, so the garden remains in good hands.

Yes. Our gardens incorporate diverse planting palettes and varied layers — trees, shrubs, perennials and grasses — alongside habitats that support pollinators and local wildlife.

We seek to design living, resilient and dynamic spaces that grow richer with time, rather than static gardens that resist change.

Yes. Our roots in Brittany are central to our practice. We systematically account for coastal winds, humidity, summer drought, the region's characteristically acidic soils, and the differences between coastal and inland exposures in our design and planting choices.

We work with specialist nurseries and select resilient plants, adapted to the site and its evolution over time, to create gardens that thrive without depending on intensive maintenance.

As early as possible. If you are building or renovating, integrating landscape thinking from the outset allows the outdoor spaces to be shaped alongside the architecture, technical constraints to be anticipated, and costly modifications to be avoided later.

In all cases, a well-designed garden takes time: from site analysis to layout plan, from technical design and construction details through to the planting plan — each stage builds the quality and longevity of the final result.

You can reach us via the contact form on our website or by email. We will then arrange a preliminary phone call to learn about your project, your site and your aspirations.

If your project is a good fit for our approach, we will propose an on-site consultation visit, followed by a detailed report covering the constraints and opportunities of the site, a preliminary construction cost estimate, and a design fee proposal.

Our process is sequenced and collaborative: each phase is signed off together before moving forward. Every decision — materials, plantings, atmosphere — is tailored to your site, your lifestyle and your aspirations.

From the first consultation through to planting, a typical project spans six months to a year, construction included — a reasonable timeline for a garden designed and built to the highest standards.