KEY POINTS:
The field is wide open if you want to develop a career as a top garden designer, says award-winning landscape artist Xanthe White.
White won silver at this year's Chelsea Flower Show with her 100% Pure New Zealand Garden, a display that has been recreated at the Ellerslie International Flower Show.
She has come a long way since the day she had a broom pushed into her hand to sweep concrete at a local garden centre, something that happened after quitting Auckland University.
"You start out pushing a broom around and loading up pots, but there are all these people there who know heaps about plants. You learn from the experience of doing it."
White, 29, had not set out to become a landscape designer.
"I got a job via student job search that was supposed to be sweeping a drive. But it turned out to be at a garden centre. I wasn't that keen on gardening. It was definitely a chore I avoided."
But after starting two landscape design companies, gardening is a career she loves. White says working at garden centres and doing garden maintenance are the best ways to learn about landscape design.
"You can learn the construction side of it by working with a good builder," she says. "But plants change through the seasons, so actually doing the garden maintenance and the actual work may seem laborious but you're actually seeing how plants respond and change through the years."
While working at the garden centre, White began the landscape design course at Unitec. Although she went on to earn a landscape design diploma, she says it is one career that can't be learned from a book.
"Even if you read 10 gardening books, they'll all tell you slightly different things about how to do it anyway. Plants have preferences but then there are exceptions to the rules."
White says practical experience with plants is something you just can't learn at school.
"Even if you don't know huge lists of plant names, if you've worked in a garden you'll know that a silver leaf normally is going to like sunlight. You might not know the name but you'll know how it's going to respond to a particular environment."
Landscape designing allows you the freedom to express yourself and create - much like being an artist but with one big difference.
"I thought about being an artist but the idea of eating two-minute noodles didn't really appeal," says White. "With landscaping you've got creative freedom but at the same time you can actually make a living and have some security."
White says there is plenty of room in the market to accommodate more landscape designers because there is such a demand for people with those skills. Whether it's the urban sprawl, corporate developments or show gardens, there is plenty of work to be done.
For people wanting to pursue a career in landscaping, White says to obtain as wide a range of plant knowledge as possible so you won't be limited in your creations.
"The broader your pallet is, the more interesting your work is going to be and the more it is going to stand out from other people."
The more you can learn about different species, their temperaments, growing patterns and seasonal changes, the better equipped you'll be to serve your clients.
"Even working in nurseries with plant growers is good. You're looking at the new plants that landscapers will use which first have to be grown and propagated by the nursery industry."
White likes the complexity of dealing with plants on a seasonal basis and incorporating spaces for people to interact with nature. She says the key to landscape design is to plan out the function and determine where the people will be before you even start thinking about the plants.
"You need quite a strong practical element. But it's ever-changing and where you can go with it is endless."
But it took White a lot of work to get to where she is and it wasn't always green pastures. When White graduated from Unitec, she faced a tough challenge landing her first real job.
"I couldn't get any jobs as an actual landscaper because employers just wanted muscly guys and weren't interested in hiring girls.
"I thought, 'Right, if I actually want to do it, then I'll just do it'. I set up my own business. It was good because I just went out there and got stuck in and did it myself."
She created Earthroom Landscapes and built it up to a point where she was able to sell it. She then started another business and now trades as Xanthe White Design.
"All the way through there have been people who have given me opportunities and backed me and believed in me. Then because they've put that faith in me then you have to pull it off because you don't want to let them down."
One opportunity led to the next with White and she says there's still plenty of work out there for people just starting out. White says you can even tailor a landscaping career to fit your own personality.
"The good thing about landscape design is you can hone it to be your own thing. There's quite a range of opportunities. If you're more of a practical person then there are a lot of those new big subdivisions where you can do the problem solving or if you want to do something more creative then you can go into show gardens and play with ideas."
White's show garden at the Chelsea Flower Show in Britain was a slice of contemporary New Zealand. Based on the Waitakere west coast, the garden had dark features, glass, waterfalls and laser-cut stainless steel sculptures. The garden was adorned with kauri, kowharawhara and pohutukawa. However, the plants were sourced in Britain and so were smaller than their native ancestors.
Her design at the Ellerslie International Flower Show, which starts today, features full-size New Zealand natives. White says that unlike everyday gardens, show gardens need the wow factor to attract attention.
"Show gardens need to be a bit more over the top," she says. "You need to push ideas a bit further. People are walking past and so you have to grab them and pull them in."
She says good gardening takes time. So, if you're choosing a career as a landscape gardener you'll need to have some patience.
"Some of the best gardens are the ones designed by people who work with their clients over five years getting it right."
And based on White's experiences in the industry, it looks like she'll be designing gardens for many more years to come.
"Garden designers are good people and even if I felt tired of doing it, I think I would miss everyone too much if I went off and did something else."
* The Ellerslie International Flower Show starts today.
ON THE WEB
www.ellerslieflowershow.co.nz
