We are a small design consultancy focusing on architecture, gardens and landscapes. We started our journey in London back in 2018 and thanks to the love and enthusiasm of our clients we keep going. Most of our projects are located in the UK and Greece: We work with private clients, public sector agencies, architects and urban planners.

Our aim is to create projects in which architecture and landscape blend seamlessly. We design with ecological principles in mind, thinking about both humans and nature. We believe there is the right material for the right climate and the right plant for the right place. Enhancing biodiversity and creating low-maintenance designs that people enjoy using, touching and smelling, and through which they can sense seasonal changes, is top of our list of priorities.

Besides design, we are also passionate about educating and inspiring people in urban environments to get their hands dirty, to explore their green surroundings using all their senses, and to think more deeply about nature and the way it works. We offer interdisciplinary short courses/workshops (weekends only) that are built around the concept of designing with plants and understanding how nature works. Our courses draw theory and practical knowledge from the scientific fields of architecture, landscape architecture, horticulture/arboriculture and the art/ practice of gardening. Depending on the theme of the workshop, we will also incorporate knowledge from soil sciences, biology and philosophy. We love a holistic approach to learning!

Lily Bakratsa is the creator and owner of It’s All Green To Me. Yannis Papantoniou is an external consultant that jumps on board when needed for a project or a workshop, as he has valuable experience in plants and the science of soil.

About Lily

Lily is an architect and landscape architect, and also holds a diploma in professional gardening. She teaches garden design (part-time) in a London College but also works as a freelance designer in London.

Lily comes from a family with a strong educational background; both her parents were in education and her wider family owned a private school in Greece. Reading, exploring, bringing people together and finding innovative methods for teaching runs in her family.

In 2017, Lily received an award from the Landscape Institute (LI). She is also a Landscape Ambassador and member of the editorial board of the LI. You can read her story and find out how she set up It’s All Green To Me here.

About Yannis

Yannis is horticulturist specialising in plant nutrition and soil. Coming from a family of plant traders and horticulturists, he grew up among plants, helping his father and grandfather in their glasshouse and nursery, carrying out all sorts of tasks, from overseeing all aspects of plant breeding, selection, planting and care to the commercial aspects of the trade and managing a small team of seven people.

Yannis’ work is related to gardens and everything about them: He collaborates with garden designers, landscape architects and gardeners to source the best quality plants at the best price possible. He also work as a consultant, helping people identify and remedy the health problems that plants or soil might have in their gardens.

It’s All Green to Me is a design consultancy for architecture and landscape projects of all scales. Our goal is to blend buildings with nature seamlessly: We design with ecological principles in mind, thinking about both humans and nature. We believe there is the right material for the right climate and the right plant for the right place. Enhancing biodiversity and creating low-maintenance designs that people enjoy using, touching and smelling, and through which they can sense seasonal changes, is top of our list of priorities.

When we set up our small design business, we realised that most our clients could not see the value of bringing nature into their project. We soon realised that it was beneficial for our project if we dedicated time to ‘educate’ our clients, teach them to appreciate plants and show them how they could look after their gardens, when the project was over.

That is how we started with our weekend workshops. We,initially, started them for our clients but soon loved the concept of educating and inspiring everyone to explore nature and get their hands dirty. We love the idea of creating a network of people who foster a love for nature and can pass this on to younger generations.

Please send an email to: hello@itsallgreentome.com

Design Services

As we are a design consultancy we offer a wide list of services, from concept all through to completion stages of the design of buildings and landscapes. No matter what the scale or location of your project is, if you share our philosophy of designing ecologically with nature in mind, we’ll be happy to work with you. We currently work between Greece and the UK, as we have work in both countries. Drop us a line, tell us a bit about your project and we’ll be happy to arrange a meeting, or a Skype call if you are far away.

Garden and Design Workshops

We offer a great variety of workshops, suitable for professionals, designers or just beginners to gardening. Indicative workshops include sketching outdoors, gardening advice on how to test your soil and improve it, propagating plants and much more.

We have a variety of themes; our workshops have a problem-solving approach and focus on the know-how of designing with nature. Typical event titles are: ‘How to become an urban gardener’, How to design a playground for natural play’, ‘How to look after your houseplants’, ‘How to green your balcony’ or ‘How to create a meadow’.

Lily Bakratsa organises the content of all the courses. She meets with a range of professionals to bring a holistic approach to each course. It takes a lot time to organise a course; it feels like working on small project, and Lily loves the process.

Courses are run by Lily, but at times she will invite guest lecturers or other professionals, depending on the content and the requirements of the workshop. All guest professionals are mentioned in the workshops at the time of booking.

Freelance educators, writers, biologists, forest school leaders, gardeners, horticulturalists, arboriculturalists, construction builders, nursery managers, psychologists, philosophers – depending on the theme and content of the workshop. If you work in any of these areas and want to be involved, please email us.

For anyone who would like to learn more about plants: about designing with them and about their maintenance and care. For anyone who is interested in the science of plants, who wants to find an answer to the big questions of nature. For anyone who would like to set up their own allotment; who would like to green their balcony; green the roof of their shed; get their hands dirty.

Anyone who is an absolute beginner when it comes to nature will love our events and courses.

Anyone from 18 to 100 years old is welcome.

Designers have attended our courses in the past and they all left us with great comments and feedback. The content of our courses incorporates knowledge from different disciplines, not just design, which makes the experience fun and worthwhile. Some of our previous attendees were designers with little practical experience outdoors; others wanted to improve their knowledge of plants and understanding of nature. Whatever your profession, come with an open mind and enjoy what we have prepared for you.

This really depends on the theme of each workshop. Our courses usually last five hours (with a 30-minute lunch break), but there are shorter workshops available. Class duration is shown in the description section of the workshop when you book the course online.

We aim for a maximum of 10 people.

We do not have any exams or official tests after the end of a workshop and do not offer any formal qualifications. Please note we are not an academic organisation.

We also offer private educational services; if you have an event we can be part of, please send an email to: hello@itsallgreentome.com. This can be anything from a school project to a community event, part of a fair or festival, or a private event for your business.

We do not offer work experience, but at times, and depending on the popularity of the event/workshop, we have volunteers helping us out; we pay transport fares, lunch and drinks.

We love hearing about new ideas for workshops: drop us a line and we can see how we can work together.

Once you book a course, we will contact you via email to give you all details you need (materials to purchase, timetable etc.)

You can book workshops/events online. After booking you will receive a confirmation email; please enter your details (email/phone) carefully at the time of booking, otherwise we will have no way of contacting you. If you have problems booking online, please email hello@itsallgreentome.com.

This really depends on many things such as the format, course length, materials, number of tutors, number of participants, etc. There is much work involved in the preparation and the delivery of an event/workshop; most of this work goes unseen but a great result justifies the efforts and work that takes place backstage.

Please check the website for the pricing of individual workshops/events.

Bookings and payments are done online through our website. Our online payments are done through a Stripe plug-in, which provides us with a secure banking infrastructure. For more details, please read about Stripe here. We take secure payment over debit/credit card or Paypal.

We give refunds up to 14 days before the event/workshop takes place. This is so we can have some time to give your place to someone else.
Please note that we cannot refund later than 14 days’ notice – you can, however, give your ticket to a friend, if you wish.

As many as you wish – you only need to add them to your basket and proceed to checkout.

Unfortunately we do not offer concession prices.

Absolutely. We are also commissioned by schools, residents’ associations, museums and charities to educate their communities or work on a project with them either as a one-off event or as a series of events. Please send an email to hello@itsallgreentome.com and we will get back to you.

We most certainly can. We can bring a community together through an educational activity to support your public consultation event. Please send an email to hello@itsallgreentome.com and we will get back to you.

We do – drop us a line and we will get back to you with loads of ideas.

Unfortunately we don’t.

All our workshops take place online but we plan them in a way so that you can rest during the day, explore the outdoors without feeling overwhelmed by looking at a screen.

This depends on the content of the workshop; as far as gardening tools are concerned, we usually use hand spades, trowels, forks, buckets, snippers, pruning scissors, watering cans, hoses etc. We will always show you on camera how to use a tool so that you use it in a safe way.

For design workshops we use all the necessary drawing equipment, plus scalpels if needed. If any of the tools you use need special attention, we will show you how to use them at the start of the workshop.