Meet the Oxfordshire garden designer bringing elegance and organic flow to people’s lives

Garden designer Fanija Bluma tells us about her journey and what she loves about local life in Oxford.

From the cobbled streets of Riga to the meadows of Oxford, garden designer Fanija Bluma has lived a life shaped by nature, beauty and a touch of luxury.

Growing up in Latvia, surrounded by northern landscapes and a deep cultural connection to the natural world, she says it was inevitable she would one day return to her roots.

After an early career in luxury fashion and beauty retail – working with houses such as Parfums Christian Dior, Bottega Veneta and TOD’s – Fanija turned her attention back to the soil, founding Fanija Bluma Gardens, her garden design practice.

Now based in Oxford, where she has lived with her family for the past 15 years, Fanija draws inspiration from the city’s unique mix of historic architecture, university life and green spaces.

“Oxford is so unique,” she says. “Where else can you find meadows and cows grazing beside the walls of one of the world’s greatest universities?”

When she’s not working, she loves to visit the Oxford Botanic Garden and college gardens such as Trinity, Worcester and St John’s – a living textbook, as she calls it.

Family life is central too. Her children, now 17 and 20, have grown up here, while Tess, the family’s Border Collie, keeps everyone active with her energetic swims in Port Meadow.

“She gazes at the ripples in the water, listens to the geese, then drenches me with her ‘wet dog shake’,” Fanija laughs.

Closer to home, she enjoys sourcing ingredients from local favourites like Alden’s Meatmaster, Hayman’s Fish Market and Mayfield House Farm for family meals – though she admits her husband is the real star cook.

For dining out, Gees is a favourite spot, not least because Fanija herself looks after the restaurant’s plants.

For Fanija, winter is one of the most exciting times of year. It’s bulb-planting season, when she puts the groundwork in for the colour and fragrance of spring. It’s also a time for dreaming up new designs – gardens that, in her words, are “not just places to be, but places that create emotions and memories.”

Fanija is also a member of the Twenty Pound Meadow Allotment Association, where she finds joy in “slow living” – evenings by the river, al fresco dinners, and a reminder of summers in Stockholm.

Her wish for the new year is simple yet heartfelt: an end to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Until then, she continues to create her “love gardens,” blending elegance and organic flow to touch people’s lives.

For more, visit fanijabluma.com.

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