For the love of plants…

I specialise in creating resilient gardens and maximising smaller garden spaces. I work with grouping and contrast of foliage texture, colour and shape as opposed to relying solely on floral colour for year round interest. I have, a working knowledge of indigenous and exotic drought tolerant plants and over the past ten years have established my own, lush looking, yet resilient garden that relies solely on grey water, harvested rainwater or annual rainfall. It was recently featured in the Open Gardens Constantia 2019 event and in the Garden and Home March 2020 issue. There are pictures of my garden in the gallery.

I have a keen interest and qualification in Permaculture design which is all about practical design that integrates people and their outdoor spaces. The principles are most notably used in food gardens but are applicable in ornamental spaces too. I try to implement as many of the principals into my work to build on the sustainability, regeneration and resiliency of a space.

“Whenever you are creating beauty around you, you are restoring your soul” – Alice Walker.

Angela McQueen

My mother loved gardening and my earliest memory was of little me convincing her to bring an unloved, stray Morning Glory (which I now know is a category 1 invader!) home after discovering it growing in a gutter on our walk to primary school. We certainly regretted that! I eventually claimed a small plot in the back yard where I established a vegetable garden and learnt that parsley seeds take a very long time to germinate! As a lot of us do, I lost my connection to gardening as I grew older. Travel, study and life as does, took me away from the soil.

Settling down, eventually gave me the opportunity to revisit my passion and I am so very grateful for this.

The quote above resonates to the core. My connection to plants and to the soil, as well as the spirituality and solitude I experience from spending time in my own garden has been my greatest reward. I truly believe that our well-being is intrinsically linked to our connection with the natural world.

In our modern and often very built up environments we can get disconnected from the beauty and wonder of living things and the calmness and serenity that they bring to a space.

And so It has been my goal to bring this connection back to others. I am still amazed at how plants can transform not only a physical space but a head space too!

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