Garden Design

I am mostly a self taught garden designer. Intially, I read every garden design book and Landscape Architecture book I could find and visited many gardens world wide. I mostly concentrate on how a garden makes me feel and discover the mechanics that give the garden it’s”feeling”. I am particularly interested in the priciples of design; scale, proportion, mystery, pattern and appropriatness. Hundreds of designs and installations latter I have slowly learned to incorporate the priciples of design to create some unique and lovely gardens. To me, a garden is something created out of nothing using all the elements of gardens; plants of all sizes, fencing, arbors, stones, water and even fire.

Of course people contact me all the time to make a lovely borders, or add to the plants in the front or back beds or plant a screening to hide the neighbors house. I assume this is a type of design to be sure which I happily do over and over, but to me design is the creation of a new space which always includes some kind of enclosure.

A landscaped garden with rocks, green plants, and a small stream.
A hand-drawn garden layout with labeled sections including patio with furniture, ground covers, a large pool, a water fall, a patio with a table and chairs, various plants labeled Lilac, Lilies, Alchemilla, and ornamental apple trees, as well as a back house, garden, and surrounding trees.
A peaceful park area with stone and metal fencing, concrete planters with soil, and a small pavilion with a dark roof. The area is surrounded by green grass, trees, and a clear sky.
A backyard patio with a stone pathway leading to a table with six chairs and a closed red patio umbrella. Surrounding the patio are various green plants, shrubs, and trees.

Outside The Box Design

The older I get the more I realize how much I love the design process. Every layout is unique and every planting is one of a kind. I follow the principles of design religiously; scale, proportion, appropriateness, pattern, mystery, defining space and dominance in scale. Whether you want to be inspired, find peace or be excited, I feel I can create a wonderful space or planting for everyone. When all the elements work together, to scale, it is the language of the gods. James Rose said “Gardens are a Feeling”. I like gardens that I can just sink into and feel their bliss.

A landscaped garden with a gravel pathway, a rounded concrete planter with a small tree and pink flowers, surrounded by various bushes and plants, with additional garden beds, and a lush green lawn in the background, under a bright sunny sky.
Backyard patio with stone flooring, a white pergola, outdoor chairs and table, garden beds, potted plants, and leafless trees in the background.