Georgia Linsday: Forwarding The Trend Towards Sustainable, Naturalistic Gardens

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Georgia Lindsay is a Landscape Designer known for creating imaginative outdoor spaces that seamlessly extend from the home into the garden.

Her team offers a range of services with fully tailored gardens that include thoughtful planting and every element thoroughly considered from lighting to accessories.

Georgia’s design studio has won a host of awards from their geometric ‘Mondrian Garden’ to the ‘Pollinator Garden’ inspired by the surrounding London Olympic Park. Her Grand Designs ‘Family Garden’ was labelled ‘Innovative yet practical’ by Kevin McCloud.

I spoke to Georgia about her background in Theatre Design and how it has influenced her design practice, the common challenges that face designers and her plans for the future.

Please note that all imagery in this interview is provided with permission by Georgia Lindsay.

What Led You To A Career In Garden And Landscape Design?

“When I read other designers’ paths into garden design, I don’t necessarily relate to it,” says Georgia.

“I didn’t have those early gardening experiences with my grandparents or parents like a lot of designers have.

“I grew up in South Africa, where we were constantly outside, immersed in the subtropical flora. I realise now that this environment had a powerful subliminal impact on me and gave me a deep appreciation for plants.

“I can’t say that early on I ever thought that I wanted to be a Garden Designer. I was artistic and loved designing spaces so initially I trained in theatre design which was a great love of mine.

“Horticulture was not on my radar, which is one of my greatest regrets as I would have loved to have started earlier on. That world only opened up to me in the past 20 years, which might be why I’m so passionate about it now.”

Can You Elaborate On How Your Background In Theatre Design Influences Your Approach To Garden And Landscape Design?

“My initial degree was called ‘Technical Arts Design’ for site-specific projects including Theatre, TV, film and performance art,” she says.

“This broad spectrum of spatial planning laid a solid foundation in working out the best design in many different scenarios. It feeds massively into the work I do now. Being able to visualise how people move about their garden is very similar to facilitating design for stage and TV.

“It’s all about the inhabitants of that space, whether it be performer or client and making it fulfil the purpose, in accommodating the people who occupy it.

“I often use theatrical principles such as illusion and perspective to enhance a space. It’s probably unconscious but that early training influences my work. I’m always thinking about the space as fully cohesive with personality.

“The thing that drove me away was the impermanence. I didn’t like how we poured our heart and soul into creating a world to see it stripped down and end up in a skip eventually, theatre can be very transient. So I moved to interior design after this as I knew it would be appreciated for many years to come.

“Gardens are one step on for that for me, they are the ultimate design. You can see your work bloom and grow, they are ever-evolving and improve over time.”

What Are Some Of The Most Common Challenges You Encounter In Your Design Projects, And How Do You Overcome Them?

“It’s so important to get the foundations right. The initial consultation is key to everything, it builds trust and knowledge and everything else will follow from there.

“I relish the challenges that come with very specific requests and making them work in the garden. I’ve got a garden coming up where the client is a bonsai tree collector and has the most amazing collection.

“It’s not an area of horticulture that I’ve had experience in until now, but I’ve been given the challenge of displaying these trees within the design. I will probably never be asked to do a project like this again and I relish this unique challenge. It’s like reading a script and allowing the individual characters to emerge and shine.

Are There Any Particular Plants Or Plant Combinations You Find Yourself Drawn To Repeatedly?

“I often find myself subliminally specifying South African plants,” shares Georgia.

“Only when I research the plant’s origin do I realise it’s from the southern continent – it’s funny how often it happens.

“I wouldn’t say I had a particular planting style. Because my gardens are so individually tailored, I will go from a dry gravel garden to a lush jungle garden, each planting plan is completely determined by each project.”

Are There Any Exciting Developments Or Trends In Gardening That You Are Looking Forward To?

“I’m really pleased to see that clients are coming to me looking for more naturalistic gardens,” she explains.

“I’m happy to see that many garden designers have now moved away from sterile, ‘modern’ style gardens. The outdoor room has been overused but now I think clients are appreciating the wildness that nature has to offer.  

“My job is about opening up people’s minds to the huge array of natural materials and helping my clients to think about sustainability as well as aesthetics. I’m pleasantly surprised that so many clients are asking for natural stone and drought-tolerant planting.

“Previously my clients would ask for low-maintenance gardens. There is a danger that modern low-maintenance gardens become a place that is too clinical, which is not the way that nature works. You want to be able to appreciate the change in the seasons.”

How Do You Envision The Future Of Landscape And Garden Design?

“I feel a huge responsibility as a designer to open up my client’s eyes to drought-tolerant planting and a healthy balance of hard landscaping versus planting,” Georgia states.

“Far too many gardens have too large a proportion of paving. If you pave over huge areas, you end up not allowing water to permeate into the landscape as it would naturally, so I feel a responsibility to my clients in those initial design meetings to try and encourage limiting the proportion of hard landscaping and opt for permeable surfaces such as gravel instead.

“I think people are so much more aware of sustainability and open to reusing and recycling existing products and materials, which is great. We’ve recently put a bench into a garden that is a piece of reclaimed tropical timber from the shipping industry. It’s so full of character and history and a wonderful talking point.

“It’s lovely having clients that are open to using materials like this. It’s all about educating people and making sure we convey the importance of sustainability to our clients and getting them on board.”

What’s Next For You?

“I’m currently working on a project in New Jersey which is a great challenge. It was something I was slightly hesitant about at first due to the distance but I have been pleasantly surprised working remotely, the communication between myself and the client is great.

“It’s been exciting working on a much larger project in this way. It’s wonderful getting the opportunity to do something different and explore new plants in a different climate.

“That’s what I love about garden design – there is always something to learn and every day is a school day.”