through sensitive and perceptive landscape design
Have you heard of ‘nature deficit disorder’?
Studies show that urbanisation can make us tired and depressed – even physically ill.
But the closer we live to nature, the happier we are. And the solution can be found in your own garden.
If you and your garden are in perfect harmony, healing can take place. Not only is your physical health improved, you can think more clearly, concentrate better, and you’re less anxious and more relaxed.
When designed with wisdom and sensitivity your garden enfolds you as if nature had been shaped to your exact fit, and you feel connected and energised. Accurately tuning in regularly exhilarates and empowers you.
How can you connect?
New life.
That’s what people are usually looking for when they contact me. They’re hoping to find something they feel they have lost. They’re tired of the old, the shoddy. They want new energy, ideas, fresh inspiration.
When we talk, they tell me their stories. I acknowledge the rotting retaining walls, the leggy shrubs, the bad plumbing. We certainly need to deal with those.
But what isn’t working often isn’t what I’m being asked about. What’s missing is often the deep connection between people and the natural world.
My real job is to envision a special link between each person and their surroundings and craft that into a design that gives them more energy and a stronger sense of purpose.
In a reshaped garden where practical problems have been solved intelligently and economically, where quietness and serenity reign, where your awareness is heightened, where there is a sense of balance and proportion, and where you feel whole and uplifted, you are offered the possibility of insight and awakening.
This is No Ordinary Garden. This is what I do.
How do I work?
The way I work, everything is personal: I love drawing my designs in exquisite detail by hand because in that way I can intuit a perfect harmony between the people I’m working with and the flow of nature. You can’t get ‘inside’ a drawing with a computer!
I match each design with a comprehensive report that explains the what, where and why of all the materials and components in the design, so that you understand exactly how your design works.
Your master plan and report give you the tools to lovingly put your garden together over time, watching it grow room by enchanted room. Or, if you prefer, you can hire a professional to perform the magic straight away.
Of course, I advise on plants, and sometimes I help with plant purchase as well. And I do everything myself. So, the number of clients I can handle at any one time is strictly limited.
An hour and a half’s consultation on site, if you live in Melbourne, is $300.00, and that gives you enough information to know what to do next: whether you should proceed with a master plan, or just make some simple changes.
So, it’s worth asking. If I can’t help you myself, I can probably point you in the direction of someone who can.
About me
Katharina – Garden Architect
I’ve owned and managed No Ordinary Garden since 1993
I studied
- Landscape Architecture at the University of Melbourne
- Japanese Garden Art at Kyoto University of Art & Design, Kyoto, Japan
- Japanese Garden History, Construction, Maintenance at Kosugi Garden Seminar, Atami, Japan
- feng shui and Geomancy
- and lots of other mind-expanding things like foreign languages at the University of New England and mediaeval languages and literature at the University of Melbourne
I’ve taught in schools and lectured in universities and travelled to many extraordinary places around the world
And I’ve won awards at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show
I love – translating French poetry, wandering in European woods, finding new ways of seeing in Kyoto, creating unforgettable gardens…