Garden Design Academy tutor Renata Ferreira talks gratification and resilience, and how the teacher can also be the student.
Garden design, like many other fields of design is fuelled by a drive to create something both beautiful and functional. What makes this field of design unique is that, coupled with a strong aesthetic and purpose, plant ecology and its natural habitat must also be considered.
From the day she was born, landscape construction and maintenance has been in the family business and so it seems, Renata Ferreira was destined to embrace a life of Landscape Architecture.
Ecology
Renata’s trademark designs include the use native plants and permeable materials. She believes in maintaining the integrity of existing plants and respecting their elements and structures. She notes that knowledge of the environment is integral to a successful design but can also allow a designer to shape and mould certain spaces to their will.
When asked which landscape or garden designer, dead or alive, Renata would spend a day with, she chose Piet Oudolf because of her admiration for his work around the ‘New Perennial’ movement.
The New Perennial movement is stemmed from the idea that garden designs should live in harmony with nature. Oudolf’s designs are governed by naturalistic planting that is both informed by horticulture while maintaining a strong rapport with the ecology. Renata admires how Oudolf’s knowledge of plant nursery allows him to “play” with natural structural characteristics. His gardens are interesting all year round and remain well structured as they age.
While designers like Piet Oudolf are creating their beautiful Wildscapes it is vital to understand that he too, first learned the basics.
Image courtesy Renata Ferreira.
The business of design
In 2018 Renata recognised that it was time to invest in her career and went on to earn a scholarship for the Magella MBA of Porto Business School. An important lesson that budding designers must realise is that in order to make a living from Garden Design, it must also be treated as a business. Before picking up a pencil and planning your next design, Renata recommends aspiring designers stock up on some fundamental tools in their approach.
A crucial first step is creativity; you must not be afraid to stand out from the crowd. Another important factor to master is strong communication skills. It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to manage your clients’ expectations. It is also important to remain curious and continue to research; inspiration is all around as long as you keep looking. Over time as a career develops, relationships are built, and another piece of advice offered by Renata is to work with builders you trust. Don’t let bad construction sabotage your design. Overall, the most valuable advice Renata offers is to be resilient!
Don’t be afraid to volunteer at a garden centre or a botanic garden.
Image courtesy Renata Ferreira.
Wins
There will be highs and lows in a life in the garden and one high came in 2018 at the Allariz Festival, Spain when Renata’s ‘Forbidden Garden’ took home the best design award but for her, the real win was the fact that it was voted by the public. The greatest gratification comes from a happy client whether it is the public or an individual and in 2013, Renata’s Community Vegetable Garden won the EDP Solidarity Program. Garden design can offer great opportunities to integrate into various areas of society and make positive change to real people’s lives.
Renata’s true victory was the bringing together of people in a shared space with access for those with reduced mobility.
Image courtesy Renata Ferreira.
Learning
Renata garners great pleasure from observing students’ growth and creativity and like many good educators, she is constantly learning from her students and their different approaches and creativity. Any area of craft or artistry takes a certain amount of grit and resilience but under the watchful eye of Renata Ferreira, students are left with an informed and insightful introduction to a potentially bountiful career.
Renata advises that while starting out in an established office will offer more knowledge and the opportunity to work with more experienced Garden Designers and Landscape Architects, you may also find yourself immersed in tasks that bring you little joy. You will, however, gain practical knowledge that can only be learned in practice.
Part-time on the other hand requires that old chestnut resilience! It is both demanding and unpredictable and Renata’s first-hand knowledge of starting out as a freelancer understands the twists and turns of going alone. Sometimes creativity is elusive and sometimes there is so much work, you will have to turn some down but, you are your own boss, and you can choose the work you want to do.
Image courtesy Renata Ferreira.
Money Tree
Renata leaves us with a final seed students would be wise to plant and water.
Learn to manage your finances!
Work is sometimes inconsistent, so you need to be prepared for those rainy days.
Image courtesy Renata Ferreira.
With a masters degree in Landscape Architecture from Porto University, Renata has been developing projects for private and public institutions, as well as, coordinating teams in the field of maintenance and management of green spaces. She has earned a scholarship for the Magellan MBA of Porto Business School in 2018. Her community garden design won the EDP 2013 solidarity program, and she joined forces to develop the “Forbidden Garden” in 2018 which was the winner design of the “Allariz Festival” in Spain.
To find out how you can become a garden designer, visit our courses page.