My awareness of the SGD came about by chance. Early in 2008 I herniated my L4 & L5 discs whilst paving a terrace and I was in recovery. Bi-weekly Physio sessions (from which I emerged in need of sugary tea) and a concoction of Diazepam and Diclofenac were allowing me to function at half-pace, but it was a hard time. I was very sore, but more than that, the injury served to cast real doubt over my future in the landscape industry. It was clear that my back was going to take a long time to mend and might even require surgery, and I wondered how I would manage this and continue to pursue my passion for building gardens.
By chance Stephen was looking for help in the office - the business, which at this point had been steadily growing in reputation for 16 years, was out-stretching the capacity of the small office team. So, one Monday morning I swapped by workbooks for a shirt and jeans and arrived at the office instead of our Landscape yard. I began assisting with project management, estimation and surveying. One day I was offered the opportunity to create a design.
I had always loved drawing and as a child had spent countless hours in my bedroom sketching. Having a pen in my hand felt instantly comfortable - Could this be the way to continue my career? It seemed possible and I was hooked.
I signed up for a Diploma course in Garden Design at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh and that was me. Coming from a background in landscape construction provided an advantage and created a sense of confidence - I knew how to form the features we were studying - I had laid more stone patios than my back would care to remember and had circumnavigated the globe three times with whinstone setts. It was wonderful to know that there was an option for me to continue in my chosen profession.
The course was demanding and fantastic and my back continued to heal. Unable to sit for extended periods I completed coursework assignments whilst laying flat on a massage table, peering through the hole in the headrest at a drawing board positioned directly beneath me. It was ridiculous and to everyone who looked through our lounge window I must have looked mad, but it worked.
The SGD was something my fellow students and I revered. It was a place where all of our design hero’s were collected - all those images of finely honed gardens that we’d been studying and trying to emulate were products of these select few. Gaining membership felt impossible and yet defining.
All this was amplified by our monthly lecture from Chris Beardshaw, whose stories of Show Garden success and television appearances presented a tangible example of industry success. We hung onto Chris’ knowledge and desperately wanted to impress him. It was wonderful to have his steer during the course and I was lucky to be offered a position to join his team on completion - sadly the move to Cheltenham was impossible, but a trial week offered wonderful insight into a professional studio and provided the structure for what we have aimed to build at Ogilvie + Starnes.
Graduating from the Diploma course with a Distinction I went straight to work as a full-time, employed designer - I was incredibly lucky. I started with small commissions and waited for the projects that would really let me indulge the creative ideas I’d been working on during my course. We designed and built some fantastic gardens in those early years but looking back my plan to obtain Registered status within two years of graduation was unrealistic.
Appraising all this now it’s quite right that I didn’t achieve Membership so early into my career. In fact it has taken a full 10 years since graduating to achieve the goal I set myself then. I have designed many garden in that time - perhaps over 300 - I’m not sure. What I do know is that each one has taught me a new lesson and fortified my knowledge in some way. The youthful confidence I had on graduation has been replaced by a real proven understanding of my profession. You begin to recognise the potential of a space on first glance or identify a client’s preference by the shape and style of the kitchen table you sit around at consultation visit - these things to me are as important as any written brief. You begin to accurately predict a site dimensions by looking at a plan without the the need for a scaled ruler, to see a gardens aspect by the position of moss on a northward facing tree trunk. All of this needs time.
Deciding to apply this year was a pertinent decision and started with a trip to London to attend an Adjudication Clinic. I imagined an open plan, glass walled office with Birch Ply tables and Garden Design books littering coffee tables. It was strange therefore to be huddled around a fellow designers dining room table sipping tea somewhere in Barnes with the SGD’s Head Adjudicator examining my work. Somehow this was more real and I was incredibly nervous - this moment had been a long time coming. With the exception of a few corrections my example drawings were appraised favourably - I was told I was ready! It was an exciting train ride back to Edinburgh and I started immediately to bring together the drawings for my first project submission.
The level of detail and accuracy required by the SGD is intense. A single project submission requires a minimum of 15 carefully compiled drawings - a missing dimension, a fumbled plant size or position would result in failure. To be honest I was shocked at the accuracy of detail required. Balancing client deadlines alongside the application process was consuming and the birth of my daughter refocused my energies to the family-life for some months. Finally, one year on from my first trip to London I submitted my final project - an Edinburgh family garden - which passed adjudication and lifted me alongside Design peers as a Member of the Society of Garden Designers. It was possible after all.
Some months pave passed since I achieved membership and the office is busy as we prepare for 2020. The benefits of Membership are as yet unknown, although we hope that our Registration provides an added senses of assurance for prospective clients. I read an article last week which discussed the value of design and explored the idea that alongside creativity the client is really investing in a collection of experience when they commission a design professional. That former project success, mishap, triumph all combine to create an intuitive design response. That the mistakes have already been made and lessons learnt. I suppose that is what the SGD membership signifies for me.
The team that we have built over the last ten years is full of such experience and that creates a great sense of confidence in our capacity for delivering successful and unique design. Our knowledge is also contextual - Scotland does after all not enjoy the lengthy Summers of the South East - here materials have to face greater fluctuations in temperature and planting must offer hardiness alongside beauty. Our passion for our profession makes the office a fun and creative space to spend time and whilst all of this is more important than any society membership, I still feel a very personal sense of pride every time I see the SGD logo on my signature line.
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