Garden Design as a discipline for the future

A personal view of what is garden design, this article was written for the Portuguese magazine Tudo Sobre Jardins that I’m the chief editor of.

We often discuss the garden design discipline here in the magazine Tudo Sobre Jardins, one because is the Base that guides our content and second because in Portugal we do not have Garden Design traditionally. My personal background is Garden design, I have graduated from Greenwich University in BA Hons Garden Design in 2006, so all my work in projects and in terms of contents of the magazine are highly influenced by this. However, what is Garden Design? Wikipedia as a definition on this matter: “Garden design is the art and process of designing and creating plans for layout and planting of gardens and landscapes. Garden design may be done by the garden owner themselves, or by professionals of varying levels of experience and expertise. Most professional garden designers have some training in horticulture and the principles of design. “But it’s my belief that the garden design today evolved into something that encompasses a lot more disciplines like well-being, sustainable solutions, a lot more hard landscape knowledge, decoration and emotional intelligence. Garden Designers normally work in residential projects; the projects are not defined by their size but normally by their use and proximity to the everyday life of the client. Being in its majority a private client the relationship between client and designer is important, is my belief that the empathy you create with your client is the key to a successful project. Of course, you need to have the skills and experience, but if you have a great relationship with your client, if you can predict his needs, understand his lifestyle and anticipate solutions to some of the problems or thoughts he may have, you halfway there. Social skills and emotional intelligence are one of the most important elements when dealing with clients and they are very underestimated. This is something that comes from practice and cannot really be thought. But you can practice being more empathic, learn more about your client’s desires and tastes, how is the interior of the house decorated for example can give you a great insight of the clients likes and dislikes, what does he do as a hobby also helps to define different areas of the garden for example. In my opinion what is going to differentiate a premium, garden design business, now and in the future, is the creation of emotional experiences tailor-made for the client. From the project phase to the implementation, the proximity to the client and his experience of all process is what is going to be more and more important. I love going to Chelsea Flower Show, I have been going since 2007 every year, and the gardens are amazing and the creativity it is unbelievable. However, what is interesting is the difference between seeing a garden before and after reading its concept and story. If you read about the garden before you actually visited and a completely different experience. So one important skill a garden designer should have is storytelling when presenting the first concept images to your client you tell as well the story behind some elements and decisions it makes the difference to the client understanding of the project. Your capability of making your client feel special it’s very important and some people have this very naturally others have to work more to be empathetic, but I believe that in every sector of life this is going to be one of the most important skills you have in your business.